USP54

gene
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Also known as FLJ37318bA137L10.3bA137L10.4

Summary

USP54 (ubiquitin specific peptidase 54, HGNC:23513) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 10q22.2, encoding Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 54 (Q70EL1). Deubiquitinase that specifically mediates ‘Lys-63’-linked deubiquitination of substrates with a polyubiquitin chain composed of at least 3 ubiquitins.

Enables K63-linked deubiquitinase activity and cysteine-type deubiquitinase activity. Predicted to be involved in protein deubiquitination and proteolysis.

Source: NCBI Gene 159195 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 3
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 177 total
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_001391956

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:23513
Approved symbolUSP54
Nameubiquitin specific peptidase 54
Location10q22.2
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesFLJ37318, bA137L10.3, bA137L10.4
Ensembl geneENSG00000166348
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
Entrez159195

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 54 — 44 protein_coding, 7 protein_coding_CDS_not_defined, 2 retained_intron, 1 nonsense_mediated_decay

ENST00000339859, ENST00000413442, ENST00000418501, ENST00000422491, ENST00000424265, ENST00000433394, ENST00000451492, ENST00000461520, ENST00000464635, ENST00000466048, ENST00000474929, ENST00000480210, ENST00000481991, ENST00000492357, ENST00000497106, ENST00000498143, ENST00000498213, ENST00000680396, ENST00000681793, ENST00000685297, ENST00000687418, ENST00000687698, ENST00000689425, ENST00000691043, ENST00000693251, ENST00000874399, ENST00000874400, ENST00000874401, ENST00000874402, ENST00000874403, ENST00000874404, ENST00000928932, ENST00000928933, ENST00000928934, ENST00000928935, ENST00000928936, ENST00000928937, ENST00000928938, ENST00000928939, ENST00000928940, ENST00000928941, ENST00000928942, ENST00000928943, ENST00000928944, ENST00000928945, ENST00000928946, ENST00000928947, ENST00000928948, ENST00000928949, ENST00000928950, ENST00000928951, ENST00000928952, ENST00000946544, ENST00000946545

RefSeq mRNA: 21 — MANE Select: NM_001391956 NM_001320437, NM_001320441, NM_001350995, NM_001378208, NM_001378209, NM_001378210, NM_001391941, NM_001391942, NM_001391945, NM_001391946, NM_001391947, NM_001391948, NM_001391949, NM_001391950, NM_001391951, NM_001391952, NM_001391953, NM_001391954, NM_001391955, NM_001391956, NM_152586

CCDS: CCDS7329, CCDS91265

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000687698 — 24 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000016482787359127873591342
ENSE000034633597353460073534770
ENSE000034739507350485073504990
ENSE000034831707352664773526780
ENSE000034930627354280373542885
ENSE000035110177353014373530523
ENSE000035147747354163373541738
ENSE000035379037351979773519992
ENSE000035418077350065573500838
ENSE000035782047352968073529911
ENSE000035849117351637573517747
ENSE000035951357353070473530835
ENSE000036023207349753873499188
ENSE000036094087354137573541521
ENSE000036193267350530873505426
ENSE000036237727352090873521027
ENSE000036495527354301873543131
ENSE000036520757357551273575675
ENSE000036568447352358373523750
ENSE000036595497353944473539593
ENSE000036639087353626973536437
ENSE000036673267354553873545672
ENSE000037900627357142173571513
ENSE000039315467357579873576361

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 249 present calls, max score 99.05.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth ubiquitous, TPM avg 11.6949 / max 597.0157, expressed in 1590 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (8 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
1100795.3394608
1100834.48631401
1100750.8640270
1100770.5584254
1100780.2554132
1100810.109355
1100800.059627
1100760.02248

Top tissues by expression

253 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
tibialis anteriorUBERON:000138599.05gold quality
corpus callosumUBERON:000233698.88gold quality
inferior vagus X ganglionUBERON:000536398.39gold quality
C1 segment of cervical spinal cordUBERON:000646997.68gold quality
gastrocnemiusUBERON:000138897.63gold quality
spinal cordUBERON:000224097.63gold quality
subthalamic nucleusUBERON:000190697.26gold quality
muscle of legUBERON:000138396.93gold quality
deltoidUBERON:000147696.85gold quality
medulla oblongataUBERON:000189696.82gold quality
right lobe of thyroid glandUBERON:000111996.81gold quality
left lobe of thyroid glandUBERON:000112096.59gold quality
lateral globus pallidusUBERON:000247696.54gold quality
ventral tegmental areaUBERON:000269196.54gold quality
thyroid glandUBERON:000204696.51gold quality
dorsal plus ventral thalamusUBERON:000189796.34gold quality
globus pallidusUBERON:000187596.29gold quality
superior vestibular nucleusUBERON:000722796.19gold quality
midbrainUBERON:000189196.15gold quality
substantia nigraUBERON:000203896.09gold quality
pancreatic ductal cellCL:000207996.05silver quality
medial globus pallidusUBERON:000247796.04gold quality
substantia nigra pars reticulataUBERON:000196695.62gold quality
hindlimb stylopod muscleUBERON:000425295.22gold quality
skeletal muscle tissueUBERON:000113495.20gold quality
sural nerveUBERON:001548894.98gold quality
putamenUBERON:000187494.55gold quality
upper arm skinUBERON:000426394.53gold quality
amygdalaUBERON:000187694.35gold quality
ponsUBERON:000098894.25gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 1 experiment(s), a significant marker in 1.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3yes17.62

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

59 targeting USP54, top 30 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific):

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-4668-3P100.0068.742635
HSA-MIR-4425100.0067.591049
HSA-MIR-34A-5P99.9971.211784
HSA-MIR-449A99.9971.051776
HSA-MIR-520D-5P99.9873.344883
HSA-MIR-524-5P99.9873.434882
HSA-MIR-34C-5P99.9770.451577
HSA-MIR-449B-5P99.9770.261580
HSA-MIR-60799.9773.625593
HSA-MIR-6778-3P99.9667.292693
HSA-MIR-6780A-5P99.8866.692776
HSA-MIR-3121-3P99.8271.963630
HSA-MIR-1273H-5P99.7766.322471
HSA-MIR-6794-5P99.7666.381048
HSA-MIR-92A-2-5P99.7567.012164
HSA-MIR-30B-3P99.7065.762325
HSA-MIR-3689A-3P99.7065.732306
HSA-MIR-3689B-3P99.7065.712311
HSA-MIR-3689C99.7065.712311
HSA-MIR-6779-5P99.7065.762363
HSA-MIR-4716-3P99.6966.731022
HSA-MIR-5004-5P99.6866.631294
HSA-MIR-7-5P99.6770.531809
HSA-MIR-5197-5P99.6469.081494
HSA-MIR-24-3P99.5969.971934
HSA-MIR-432899.5771.064094
HSA-MIR-6716-5P99.5668.621244
HSA-MIR-186-3P99.5166.241685
HSA-MIR-143-3P99.4969.051457
HSA-MIR-477099.4969.091451

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 3)

  • we have demonstrated that USP54 is overexpressed in colon CSCs and promotes both colon carcinoma and melanoma progression. (PMID:27769071)
  • USP54 is a potential therapeutic target in castration-resistant prostate cancer. (PMID:38321455)
  • Ubiquitin-specific protease 54 regulates GLUT1-mediated aerobic glycolysis to inhibit lung adenocarcinoma progression by modifying p53 degradation. (PMID:38744954)

Cross-species orthologs

3 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriousp54aENSDARG00000077948
mus_musculusUsp54ENSMUSG00000034235
rattus_norvegicusUsp54ENSRNOG00000027012

Paralogs (1): USP53 (ENSG00000145390)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 54Q70EL1 (reviewed: Q70EL1)

Alternative names: Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 54

All UniProt accessions (15): A0A7P0T9K1, A0A7P0T9N2, A0A804D9U3, A0A8I5KNN9, A0A8I5KRV2, A0A8I5KTP4, Q70EL1, A0A8I5KYV7, A0A8I5KYW2, H7C1E9, H7C296, R4GN32, X6RGF2, X6RH50, X6RHN7

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Deubiquitinase that specifically mediates ‘Lys-63’-linked deubiquitination of substrates with a polyubiquitin chain composed of at least 3 ubiquitins. Specifically recognizes ubiquitin chain in position S2 and catalyzes cleavage of polyubiquitin within ‘Lys-63’-linked chains. Not able to deubiquitinate substrates with shorter ubiquitin chains. Mediates deubiquitination of PLK4, maintaining PLK4 stability by reducing its ubiquitination-mediated degradation.

Tissue specificity. Weakly expressed in a few tissues.

Similarity. Belongs to the peptidase C19 family.

Isoforms (7)

UniProt IDNamesCanonical?
Q70EL1-11yes
Q70EL1-42
Q70EL1-63
Q70EL1-74
Q70EL1-85
Q70EL1-96
Q70EL1-107

RefSeq proteins (21): NP_001307366, NP_001307370, NP_001337924, NP_001365137, NP_001365138, NP_001365139, NP_001378870, NP_001378871, NP_001378874, NP_001378875, NP_001378876, NP_001378877, NP_001378878, NP_001378879, NP_001378880, NP_001378881, NP_001378882, NP_001378883, NP_001378884, NP_001378885, NP_689799 (=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR001394Peptidase_C19_UCHDomain
IPR028889USPDomain
IPR038765Papain-like_cys_pep_sfHomologous_superfamily
IPR052398Ubiquitin_hydrolase_53/54Family

Pfam: PF00443

UniProt features (107 total): compositionally biased region 18, strand 16, helix 12, binding site 12, region of interest 11, splice variant 8, modified residue 7, sequence conflict 7, turn 5, sequence variant 4, active site 2, mutagenesis site 2, chain 1, domain 1, coiled-coil region 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

1 structures.

PDBMethodResolution (Å)
8C61X-RAY DIFFRACTION2.5

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q70EL1-F148.670.18

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Catalytic / active sites (2): 42 (nucleophile); 302 (proton acceptor)

Ligand- & substrate-binding residues (12): 67; 69; 74; 77; 133; 145; 150; 153; 166; 169; 225; 229

Post-translational modifications (7): 12, 481, 603, 632, 671, 674, 1189

Mutagenesis-validated functional residues (2):

PositionPhenotype
100strongly decreased ability to catalyze deubiquitination.
161reduced ability to mediate cleavage of tri- and tetra-ubiquitin chains.

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

0 pathways

MSigDB gene sets: 136 (showing top): GSE45365_CTRL_VS_MCMV_INFECTION_NK_CELL_UP, GCANCTGNY_MYOD_Q6, GOBP_PROTEIN_MODIFICATION_BY_SMALL_PROTEIN_REMOVAL, CAGCTG_AP4_Q5, MYOD_01, GOMF_CYSTEINE_TYPE_PEPTIDASE_ACTIVITY, GOBP_POST_TRANSLATIONAL_PROTEIN_MODIFICATION, CHIANG_LIVER_CANCER_SUBCLASS_INTERFERON_DN, TGGNNNNNNKCCAR_UNKNOWN, RODRIGUES_THYROID_CARCINOMA_POORLY_DIFFERENTIATED_DN, AR_01, AR_Q2, MASSARWEH_TAMOXIFEN_RESISTANCE_UP, GOBP_PROTEOLYSIS, GEORGES_TARGETS_OF_MIR192_AND_MIR215

GO Biological Process (2): proteolysis (GO:0006508), protein deubiquitination (GO:0016579)

GO Molecular Function (6): cysteine-type deubiquitinase activity (GO:0004843), K63-linked deubiquitinase activity (GO:0061578), protein binding (GO:0005515), peptidase activity (GO:0008233), cysteine-type peptidase activity (GO:0008234), hydrolase activity (GO:0016787)

GO Cellular Component (0):

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
deubiquitinase activity2
protein metabolic process1
cysteine-type deubiquitinase activity1
protein modification by small protein removal1
cysteine-type peptidase activity1
binding1
hydrolase activity1
catalytic activity, acting on a protein1
peptidase activity1
catalytic activity1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

894 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
USP54PAN2Q504Q3660
USP54USP50Q70EL3633
USP54USP39Q53GS9578
USP54USP43Q70EL4575
USP54C1orf74Q96LT6517
USP54USP33Q8TEY7503
USP54USP38Q8NB14486
USP54USP8P40818478
USP54USPL1Q5W0Q7468
USP54USP35Q9P2H5454
USP54USP49Q70CQ1453
USP54USP45Q70EL2450
USP54USP11P51784445
USP54USP13Q92995439
USP54USP48Q86UV5433

IntAct

114 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
IKBKGIKBKBpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.980
CCT2TXNDC9psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.730
USP54reppsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.660
YWHAGBLTP3Bpsi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.640
PDCL3PEX7psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.640
CCT3TXNDC9psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.640
YWHAHPLEKHG3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.610
YWHABBLTP3Bpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.610
EIF4E2USP54psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
NXT2USP54psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
VRK3USP54psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
USP54DYRK1Apsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.550
repSBNO1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
YWHAZBLTP3Bpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
CLEC11AVWA8psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
CAPN2MYO9Apsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
DISC1AP4M1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
PIGTZNF609psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
PNMA2CCDC85Cpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
ATXN1USP54psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.510
USP54CHMP1Apsi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.440
CHMP1BUSP54psi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.440
USP54CHMP2Apsi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.440

BioGRID (266): USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Two-hybrid), USP54 (Two-hybrid), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP54 (Proximity Label-MS), USP54 (Proximity Label-MS), USP54 (Proximity Label-MS), USP54 (Proximity Label-MS), USP54 (Proximity Label-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A0A2R6W1B1, A0FKI7, A2XC52, A2XTW9, A2Y0Q2, B8AMA8, B8B8I3, F4I9G2, O94972, P07106, P20067, P41135, P85828, Q5EAE9, Q5EAH9, Q5R7V3, Q5T8D3, Q5XEM9, Q5XG73, Q5XI67, Q6EPZ2, Q6GPE9, Q6IE24, Q6PCX9, Q70EL1, Q75IR6, Q76N89, Q7XUW3, Q84TV4, Q86UB2, Q8BJL1, Q8BL06, Q8CBX9, Q8H383, Q8H8C6, Q8K3A6, Q8K4P8, Q8LA16, Q8TB52, Q96S38

Diamond homologs: P15975, Q6IE24, Q70EK8, Q70EL1, Q8BL06

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Enriched among interaction partners

Reactome pathways and GO biological processes over-represented among this gene’s 116 IntAct physical interaction partners (hypergeometric vs the genome-wide background, BH-FDR, gene-set size 15–500, ranked by fold). A functional readout of the neighbourhood — distinct from this gene’s own memberships above, and biased toward well-studied / hub proteins, so read it as themes rather than proof.

Reactome pathways:

PathwayPartnersFoldFDR
Activation of BAD and translocation to mitochondria778.4×1e-10
Chk1/Chk2(Cds1) mediated inactivation of Cyclin B:Cdk1 complex769.2×2e-10
SARS-CoV-1 targets host intracellular signalling and regulatory pathways769.2×2e-10
Activation of BH3-only proteins751.1×2e-09
Budding and maturation of HIV virion848.0×2e-10
Pyroptosis743.5×6e-09
Endosomal Sorting Complex Required For Transport (ESCRT)843.3×4e-10
Late endosomal microautophagy838.4×1e-09

GO biological processes:

GO termPartnersFoldFDR
nuclear membrane reassembly1099.1×9e-17
late endosome to lysosome transport1099.1×9e-17
viral budding via host ESCRT complex1080.2×1e-15
multivesicular body sorting pathway1080.2×1e-15
midbody abscission1073.3×3e-15
regulation of mitotic spindle assembly1073.3×3e-15
regulation of centrosome duplication858.6×2e-11
plasma membrane repair1058.1×4e-14

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

177 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance148
Likely benign11
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

4834 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
10:73500838:CCT:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73505321:A:ACdonor_gain1.0000
10:73505322:C:CCdonor_gain1.0000
10:73505322:CTGTT:Cdonor_gain1.0000
10:73519989:TTAG:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73523581:A:ATdonor_loss1.0000
10:73523581:AC:Adonor_gain1.0000
10:73523582:C:CTdonor_loss1.0000
10:73523582:CC:Cdonor_gain1.0000
10:73536263:GCTCA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
10:73536264:CTCAC:Cdonor_loss1.0000
10:73536265:TCACC:Tdonor_loss1.0000
10:73536266:CAC:Cdonor_loss1.0000
10:73536267:A:Cdonor_loss1.0000
10:73536433:CCAAT:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536434:CAAT:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536434:CAATC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536435:AAT:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536436:AT:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536437:TC:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
10:73536438:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536438:CT:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
10:73536444:C:CTacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536444:C:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536445:A:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536454:C:CTacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73536454:C:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
10:73539442:ACCT:Adonor_gain1.0000
10:73539443:CCTC:Cdonor_gain1.0000
10:73539445:T:TAdonor_gain1.0000

AlphaMissense

0 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000031081 (10:73604270 C>T), RS1000034890 (10:73574555 T>C), RS1000097938 (10:73602990 G>A), RS1000106526 (10:73574334 A>G), RS1000131563 (10:73554983 G>A,C), RS1000137397 (10:73603671 C>A,T), RS1000143306 (10:73527580 T>C), RS1000174951 (10:73623752 T>C), RS1000175059 (10:73508071 G>A), RS1000190182 (10:73603308 A>C), RS1000225951 (10:73507839 A>G), RS1000328332 (10:73534101 G>A), RS1000361663 (10:73547492 A>G), RS1000362945 (10:73580921 C>T), RS1000376146 (10:73547714 C>G)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene `` | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

3 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST010396_122Gut microbiota (bacterial taxa, hurdle binary method)8.000000e-07
GCST010396_93Gut microbiota (bacterial taxa, hurdle binary method)1.000000e-06
GCST010463_19Childhood ALL/LBL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoblastic lymphoma) treatment-related venous thromboembolism5.000000e-06

EFO canonical traits (1, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0007874gut microbiome measurement

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

CTD chemical–gene interactions

21 total (human), top 21 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
Benzo(a)pyreneaffects methylation, decreases expression, increases expression, increases methylation4
sodium arseniteaffects expression, decreases expression2
GSK-J4decreases expression1
FR900359affects phosphorylation1
dicrotophosincreases expression1
bufotalinincreases expression1
triphenyl phosphateaffects expression1
CGP 52608affects binding, increases reaction1
abrineincreases expression1
bisphenol Sincreases methylation1
Caffeineaffects phosphorylation1
Coumestroldecreases expression1
Doxorubicindecreases expression1
Methyl Methanesulfonateincreases expression1
Nickeldecreases expression1
Tetrachlorodibenzodioxindecreases expression1
Tretinoindecreases expression1
Valproic Aciddecreases methylation, increases expression1
Aflatoxin B1increases methylation1
Antirheumatic Agentsincreases expression1
Acrylamidedecreases expression1

Cellosaurus cell lines

2 cell lines: 2 cancer cell line

First 10 cell lines (id-ordered, not curated):

CellosaurusNameCategorySex
CVCL_B2KQAbcam HeLa USP54 KOCancer cell lineFemale
CVCL_TX10HAP1 USP54 (-)Cancer cell lineMale

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.

  • Disease cohort memberships (association, not causation — diseases whose associated-gene cohort lists this gene; a subset are also under Associated diseases): venous thromboembolism