Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41540009›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Cryo-EM structure of the human COP1-DET1 ubiquitin ligase complex.

Shan Wang, Fei Teng, Goran Stjepanovic, Feng Rao, Ming-Yuan Su

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Shan WangDepartment of Biochemistry, SUSTech Homeostatic Medicine Institute, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-5301-4540
Fei TengDepartment of Biochemistry, SUSTech Homeostatic Medicine Institute, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6782-7676
Goran StjepanovicKobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4841-9949
Feng RaoShenzhen Key Laboratory of Biomolecular Assembling and Regulation, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-6406
Ming-Yuan SuDepartment of Biochemistry, SUSTech Homeostatic Medicine Institute, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. sumy@sustech.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1581-0914

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ubiquitin modifications regulate fundamental cellular activities by modulating protein stability and function. The ubiquitin ligase COP1, which is present across species from plants to humans, plays a crucial role in the ubiquitination of developmental transcription factors. While COP1 can function independently, it can also be incorporated into CULLIN4-RING ubiquitin ligase (CRL4) complexes through the DET1 adaptor protein. Despite its biological significance, the structural and functional mechanisms of COP1 and DET1-containing complexes remains poorly understood. Here we present the cryo-electron microscopy structures of human COP1 in complex with DDB1-DDA1-DET1 and Ube2e2, revealing an inactive stacked assembly state. Co-expression with COP1 substrates including c-Jun or ETS2 disrupts this configuration, inducing a conformational rearrangement into a distinct dimeric state that allows substrate access. Structural modelling identifies the spatial organization of COP1 WD40 domains where substrate recruits. DET1 serves as a structural scaffold, bridging COP1 and Ube2e2 to initiate potential ubiquitin addition on substrates, while DDB1 recruits the CULLIN4-RBX1 complex to facilitate Ube2d3-mediated ubiquitin chain elongation. These results reveal the dynamic interplay between the structural states of the CRL4

Indexed as

Nuclear ProteinsUbiquitin-Protein LigasesCarrier ProteinsCryoelectron MicroscopyCullin ProteinsDNA-Binding ProteinsHumansModels, MolecularMultiprotein ComplexesProtein BindingUbiquitinationUbiquitin-Conjugating EnzymesCarrier ProteinsCOP1 protein, humanCullin ProteinsDNA-Binding ProteinsMultiprotein ComplexesNuclear ProteinsRBX1 protein, humanUBE2D3 protein, humanUbiquitin-Conjugating EnzymesUbiquitin-Protein Ligases

Identifiers

PMID41540009
PMCPMC12808801

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.