Parkin and relatives: the RBR family of ubiquitin ligases

Mutations in the parkin gene cause autosomal-recessive juvenile parkinsonism. Parkin encodes a ubiquitinprotein ligase characterized by having the RBR domain, composed of two RING fingers plus an IBR/DRIL domain. The RBR family is defined as the group of genes whose products contain an RBR domain. RBR family members exist in all eukaryotic species for which significant sequence data is available, including animals, plants, fungi, and several protists. The integration of comparative genomics with structural and functional data allows us to conclude that RBR proteins have multiple roles, not only in protein quality control mechanisms, but also as indirect regulators of transcription. A recent…