CELE_Y108G3AL.1, Y108G3AL.1

cul-3 encodes one of six C. elegans cullins; by homology, CUL-3 is predicted to interact with a RING-finger protein to form the catalytic core of an SCF-type E3-ubiquitin ligase complex required for the ubiquitination and degradation of target proteins; in the early embryo, maternal CUL-3 is essential for degradation of MEI-1, a meiosis-specific subunit of the microtubule-severing katanin complex that is active during meiosis but whose degradation is essential for successful mitotic spindle formation and subsequent zygotic cytokinesis; to effect MEI-1 degradation, CUL-3 interacts with MEL-26, a substrate-specific adaptor protein that also binds MEI-1, thus linking MEI-1 with the CUL-3-containing E3 ligase; CUL-3 activity is regulated by cycles of neddylation and deneddylation that are dependent upon activity of the DCN-1, RBX-1, and RFL-1 gene products; cul-3 mRNA is present at all life stages, with highest levels seen in embryos; expression of a cul-3::GFP transcriptional reporter fusion is detected in many somatic tissues, including the pharynx, intestine, hypodermis, and several different muscle types.

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