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The rise of ADP-ribose–ubiquitin

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 32, pages 1582–1585 (2025)Cite this article

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Post-translational modifications show mechanistic crosstalk, exemplified by the ADP-ribose–ubiquitin hybrid signal, in which one post-translational modification modifies another. This Comment highlights its discovery, mechanistic basis and functional consequences, and outlines critical questions for understanding this emerging signaling paradigm.

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Fig. 1: Ub and ADPr modify each other.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Suskiewicz, J. Ahel and R. Smith for comments. Work in K.Z.’s laboratory is supported by the Shanghai Pujiang Program (24PJD028). Work in I.A.’s laboratory is supported by the Wellcome Trust (223107 and 302632), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R007195/1 and BB/W016613/1), the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (813369), the Oxford University Challenge Seed Fund (USCF 456) and Cancer Research UK (C35050/A22284).

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  1. Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Chatrin Chatrin & Ivan Ahel

  2. Health Science Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Kang Zhu

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  1. Chatrin Chatrin
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  2. Kang Zhu
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  3. Ivan Ahel
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Correspondence to Ivan Ahel.

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Chatrin, C., Zhu, K. & Ahel, I. The rise of ADP-ribose–ubiquitin. Nat Struct Mol Biol 32, 1582–1585 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-025-01651-0

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