When cleavage is not attractive: Non-catalytic inhibition of ubiquitin chains at DNA double-strand breaks by OTUB1

Non-degradative ubiquitylation plays a crucial role in many cellular signaling pathways, including the DNA damage response. Two ubiquitin ligases, RNF8 and RNF168, in combination with the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme UBC13 catalyze the formation of K63-linked ubiquitin chains at sites of DNA double-strand breaks to promote their faithful repair. However, little is known about their negative regulation. A recent study identifies a deubiquitylating enzyme, OTUB1, which counteracts RNF8/RNF168-dependent ubiquitin chain formation at break sites. Surprisingly, this enzyme carries out its function not by cleavage of polyubiquitin chains, but by targeting UBC13. This non-canonical role for a deubiquitylating enzyme has implications for the regulation of ubiquitylation not just in DNA repair, but potentially in many other cellular signaling processes.