In eukaryotic cells, selective breakdown of cellular proteins is ensured by two distinct pathways, ubiquitination and degradation by the 26S proteasome. At specific stages of development, embryo- and tissue-specific components of the 26S proteasome are formed by developmentally regulated alternative splicing, including Rpn10a through Rpn10e (also designated pUb-R2 through pUb-R5). The pUb-R2 subunit, originally identified as S5a, is ubiquitously expressed and may perform proteolysis constitutively in a wide variety of cells. p44S10 is a highly conserved proteasome regulatory subunit that is expressed in heart, liver, skeletal muscle and pancreas. In addition to normal tissue expression, p44S10 is also expressed in several melanoma cell lines, such as MCF-7, 451Lu and WM164. Since forced expression of p44S10 in radial growth phase melanoma cells results in an increase in cellular proliferation, p44S10 may represent a potential link between regulation of proteasome activity and tumor cell proliferation in vivo.
