Scientists catalog all human E3 ligases for first time
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- WEHI researchers published the human E3-ome in Cell, establishing the first gold-standard classification framework for E3 ligases since their discovery in the 1980s
- The four-year study evaluated 1,100+ historically proposed E3 genes; 672 met the highest confidence criteria, settling a field where previous estimates ranged from ~300 to over 1,000
- Dr. Rebecca Feltham (corresponding author) and Dr. Ngee Kiat (Jake) Chua (first author) led 40+ scientists from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the US
- The atlas maps E3 ligase locations inside cells and across the human body, supporting research into diseases linked to these enzymes, including cancer, immune disorders, and neurological conditions
- The compendium directly enables drug technologies like PROTACs and molecular glues, which hijack E3 ligase activity to eliminate harmful proteins
- The complete E3-ome is publicly available online, and the 672-enzyme count is expected to grow as new structural, biochemical, and genetic data emerge
Why it matters: Every PROTAC, molecular glue, and E3 inhibitor in development depends on knowing exactly which E3 ligases exist and what they do. By collapsing field estimates from a 300–1,000 range down to 672 verified enzymes and making the dataset public, WEHI gives drug developers a reliable target list and gives academic researchers a shared reference to stop working at cross purposes.
