Sequence and structure‐based characterization of ubiquitination sites in human and yeast proteins using Chou's sample formulation

Ubiquitination is an important post‐translational event responsible for half‐life and turnover of proteins inside the cell. Proteins are ubiquitinated by forming an iso‐peptide bond between their lysine residue and C‐terminal glycine residue of ubiquitin leading to rapid degradation of proteins by 26S proteosome complex. Deregulation of ubiquitination is manifested by aberrant expression of E3‐ligase activity or mutation in the surroundings of ubiquitination sites. Many new experimentally validated ubiquitinated lysines have been recently identified that motivated the study of the environments surrounding the ubiquitinated lysines. With the help of known ubiquitinated proteins, here we present a comprehensive study of sequence and spatial environment of ubiquitination sites of human and yeast proteins. To identify position‐specific features, this work distinguishes the spatial environments as proximity and distal regions. Certain amino acids specific to these regions, well differentiate the ubiquitination sites from non‐ubiquitination sites are revealed. Additionally, amino acid signatures that contribute for protein disordered regions and solvent accessibility of amino acids are found to be contributing factors in ubiquitination sites. These results suggest that the ubiquitination site environment of the substrate determines the recognition and unfolding of substrate to facilitate the entry into 26S proteosomal complex. We believe that these findings will help in better prediction of ubiquitination sites using the sequence and spatial information.