The modification of proteins with ubiquitin is an
important cellular mechanism for targeting abnormal or short-lived
proteins for degradation. Ubiquitination involves at least three
classes of enzymes: ubiquitin-activating enzymes, or E1s,
ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, or E2s, and ubiquitin-protein
ligases, or E3s. This gene encodes a member of the E2
ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family. This enzyme functions in the
ubiquitination of the tumor-suppressor protein p53, which is
induced by an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase. Multiple spliced
transcript variants have been found for this gene, but the
full-length nature of some variants has not been determined.
