In molecular biology, TUG-UBL1 refers to a protein that regulates a

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, usi ...

transporter called

GLUT4 Glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), also known as solute carrier family 2, facilitated glucose transporter member 4, is a protein encoded, in humans, by the ''SLC2A4'' gene. GLUT4 is the insulin-regulated glucose transporter found primarily in a ...

. TUG-UBL1 is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in '' NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, a ...

for Tether containing UBX domain for GLUT4-

Ubiquitin Ubiquitin is a small (8.6 kDa) regulatory protein found in most tissues of eukaryotic organisms, i.e., it is found ''ubiquitously''. It was discovered in 1975 by Gideon Goldstein and further characterized throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. F ...

Like 1, this is encoded for by the gene,

ASPSCR1 Tether containing UBX domain for GLUT4 (TUG) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ASPSCR1'' gene. This gene is a candidate gene for alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS). It has been found that ASPSCR1 can undergo oncogenic rearrangement w ...

Function

When

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

is secreted,

uptake of cells increase, since insulin stimulates GLUT4 to move from the intracellular surface to the outer surface. In a similar fashion, TUG retains GLUT4 within unstimulated cells, but when insulin is secreted it causes GLUT4 to

dissociate Dissociation in chemistry is a general process in which molecules (or ionic compounds such as salts, or complexes) separate or split into other things such as atoms, ions, or radicals, usually in a reversible manner. For instance, when an aci ...

and so GLUT4 moves to the cell surface. TUG binds directly and specifically to a large intracellular loop in GLUT4. It acts as a tethering protein, which along with other proteins, retain GLUT4 within cells in the absence of insulin. Additionally, when the protein TUG becomes disrupted it appears to accelerate the degradation of GLUT4 in lysosomes. However, the functional role of the TUG–UBL1 domain remains to be elucidated.

Structure

N-terminal The N-terminus (also known as the amino-terminus, NH2-terminus, N-terminal end or amine-terminus) is the start of a protein or polypeptide, referring to the free amine group (-NH2) located at the end of a polypeptide. Within a peptide, the amin ...

ubiquitin Ubiquitin is a small (8.6 kDa) regulatory protein found in most tissues of eukaryotic organisms, i.e., it is found ''ubiquitously''. It was discovered in 1975 by Gideon Goldstein and further characterized throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. F ...

-like domain (TUG–UBL1) has a

tertiary structure Protein tertiary structure is the three dimensional shape of a protein. The tertiary structure will have a single polypeptide chain "backbone" with one or more protein secondary structures, the protein domains. Amino acid side chains may int ...

of TUG–UBL1, which consists of a beta-grasp or ubiquitin-like topology for this domain. This comprises a five-stranded

beta-sheet The beta sheet, (β-sheet) (also β-pleated sheet) is a common motif of the regular protein secondary structure. Beta sheets consist of beta strands (β-strands) connected laterally by at least two or three backbone hydrogen bonds, forming a gen ...

, a single major

alpha-helix The alpha helix (α-helix) is a common motif in the secondary structure of proteins and is a right hand- helix conformation in which every backbone N−H group hydrogen bonds to the backbone C=O group of the amino acid located four residues ear ...

(residues 32–42), and two short helices.

Mechanism

TUG releases the GLUT4 containing

vesicle Vesicle may refer to: ; In cellular biology or chemistry * Vesicle (biology and chemistry), a supramolecular assembly of lipid molecules, like a cell membrane * Synaptic vesicle ; In human embryology * Vesicle (embryology), bulge-like features ...

s (GSVs) in response to

stimulation which allows it to move to the

plasma membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment (t ...

. TUG has an N-terminal ubiquitin-like

protein domain In molecular biology, a protein domain is a region of a protein's polypeptide chain that is self-stabilizing and that folds independently from the rest. Each domain forms a compact folded three-dimensional structure. Many proteins consist o ...

(UBL1) which in similar

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

s appears to participate in protein-protein interactions. The region does have an area of negative

electrostatic potential Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies electric charges at rest (static electricity). Since classical times, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for ambe ...

and increased backbone

motility Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. Definitions Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...

which leads to suggestions of a potential protein-protein interaction site.

References

{{InterPro content, IPR021569 Protein families Protein domains