Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification that plays a role in several cellular processes including cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, DNA replication and apoptosis. Ubiquitin-mediated signaling is frequently altered in cancer cells. Several tumor suppressors and oncogenes interact with enzymes of the ubiquitinproteasome pathway that function in ubiquitin conjugation and deconjugation. Increasing evidence indicates that the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) plays an important role in cancer development. Several small molecule inhibitors of the UPS have been applied to the treatment of cancer. The current review focuses on the role of the UPS in cancer development and the development of UPS inhibitors for cancer treatment.