UCH-L3

UCH-L3, the close paralog of UCH-L1, is encoded by the UCHL3 gene and shares the compact, single-domain architecture typical of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolases. Unlike the largely neuronal UCH-L1, UCH-L3 is expressed broadly across many tissues and hydrolyzes ubiquitin C-terminal fusions, peptide amides and small esters to replenish the free ubiquitin pool. A distinctive feature is its ability to also process the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8, contributing to neddylation turnover. The enzyme has been implicated in the cellular response to genotoxic stress, and its expression is elevated in several malignancies, supporting interest in UCH enzymes as research tools and drug targets.