Atypical K6-ubiquitin chains mobilize p97/VCP and the proteasome to resolve formaldehyde-induced RNA-protein crosslinks.
Song W., Ramadan K.
In this issue of Molecular Cell, Rahmanto et al.1 and Zhao et al.2 demonstrate that RNA-protein crosslinks contribute to formaldehyde toxicity by blocking protein synthesis. Furthermore, they identify a ubiquitin-mediated degradation system for RNA-protein crosslink resolution in eukaryotes.