Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme E2 H (UBE2H) belongs to the E2 Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme family. The modification of proteins with ubiquitin is an important cellular mechanism for targeting abnormal or short-lived proteins for degradation. Ubiquitination involves at least three classes of enzymes: ubiquitin-activating enzymes, or E1s, ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, or E2s, and ubiquitin-protein ligases, or E3s. It has been shown to conjugate ubiquitin to histone H2A in an E3 dependent manner in vitro. UBE2H is the human homolog to the yeast DNA repair gene RAD6, which is induced by DNA damaging reagents. UBE2H has been associated with cancer-induced cachexia and with the regulation of sepsis-induced muscle proteolysis.
