ube4b a promising regulatory molecule in neuronal death and survivalube4b承诺监管分子在神经元死亡和生存.pdf

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 16865-16879; doi:10.3390/ijms131216865 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 /journal/ijms Review UBE4B: A Promising Regulatory Molecule in Neuronal Death and Survival Rami Abou Zeinab, Hong Wu, Consolato Sergi and Roger Leng * Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2S2, Canada; E-Mails: abouzein@ualberta.ca (R.A.Z.); hwu4@ualberta.ca (H.W.); sergi@ualberta.ca (C.S.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: rleng@ualberta.ca; Tel.: +1-780-492-4985; Fax: +1-780-492-9974. Received: 7 October 2012; in revised form: 22 November 2012 / Accepted: 27 November 2012 / Published: 10 December 2012 Abstract: Neuronal survival and death of neurons are considered a fundamental mechanism in the regulation of the nervous system during early development of the system and in adulthood. Defects in this mechanism are highly problematic and are associated with many neurodegenerative diseases. Because neuronal programmed death is apoptotic in nature, indicating that apoptosis is a key regulatory process, the p53 family members (p53, p73, p63) act as checkpoints in neurons due to their role in apoptosis. The complexity of this system is due to the existence of different naturally occurring isoforms that have different functions from the wild types (WT), vary