Anaphase promoting complex
anaphase promoting complex
This article refers to the cell-cycle regulatory complex, APC/C. For the tumor suppressor APC, in which mutations lead to colon cancer, see Adenomatous polyposis coli.  Anaphase-Promoting Complex (also called the cyclosome or APCC is a large complex of 11-13 subunit proteins, including a cullin (Apc2) and RING (Apc11) subunit much like SCF. Other parts of the APC/C still have unknown functions, but are highly conserved.   It was the discovery of the APC/C (and SCF ) and their key role in eukaryotic cell reproduction that established once and for all the importance of ubiquitin -mediated proteolysis in eukaryotic cell biology. Once perceived as a system exclusively involved in removing damaged protein from the cell, ubiquitination and subsequent protein degradation by the proteasome is now perceived as a universal regulatory mechanism for signal transduction whose importance approaches that of protein phosphorylation.  In 2014, the APC/C was mapped in 3D at a resolution of less than a nanometre, which also uncovered its secondary structure. Researchers have claimed this finding could transform the understanding of cancer and reveal new binding sites for future cancer drugs.