Cancer Protein Description
This report provides a detailed description of a selected cancer protein with information collected from various sources, including UniProt, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute’s Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC), and the Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology.
| Protein Name: | FAU |
| Gene Name: | FAU |
| Protein Full Name: | Ubiquitin-like protein FUBI |
| Mass (Da): | 7760 |
| Number AA: | 74 |
| UniProt ID: | P35544; P62861 |
| Locus ID: | 2197 |
| COSMIC ID: | FAU |
| Gene location on chromosome: | 11q13.1 |
| Cancer protein type: | TSP |
| Effect of cancer mutation on protein: | UNCLEAR |
| Effect of active protein on cancer: | INHIBITS |
| Number of cancer specimens: | 19625 |
| Percent of cancer specimens with mutations: | 0.12 |
| Deregulated in translocations: | B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma. A single reported breakpoint event as a 40kbp region around FAU. |
| Normal role description: | FAU is fusion protein consisting of a ubiquitin-like protein FUBI (P3554) at the N-terminal fused to a ribosomal S30 protein at the C-terminal (P62861). FAU is the cellular homolog of the fox sequence found in Finkel-Biskis-Reilly murine sarcoma virus (FBR-MuSV). The viral Fox gene is antisense to FAU and inhibits its expression leading to increased tumourigenicity. The cellular fusion protein is thought to be cleaved post-translationally into FUBI and S30, where S30 is a constituent of the 40S ribosome as well as having anti-microbial properties as a secreted form termed ubiquicidin. A definitive role for FUBI has not been identified as FUBI lacks internal lysine residues for the formation of polyubiquitin chains. However, FAU has been found to interact with Bcl-g, a pro-apoptotic factor and the T-cell receptor alpha-like chain. FAU mRNA is highly abundant and expressed in many tissues. FAU protein and its cleavage product FUBI appears to have a role promoting apoptosis caused by DNA damaging agents as well as immunological functions through interacting with T-cell receptors. Underexpression of FAU protein has been observed in breast, ovarian and prostate cancers which suggests a tumour suppressor role. The pro-apoptotic properties of FAU protein appears to be through the FUBI cleavage product and its interaction with Bcl-G, a pro-apoptotic factor. |