WEHI Scientists Find Ubiquitin Directly Regulates Glycogen, Upending 50 Years of Biology
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · May 12
WEHI Scientists Find Ubiquitin Directly Regulates Glycogen, Upending 50 Years of Biology
2 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · May 12
Nature published WEHI’s finding that ubiquitin can attach directly to glycogen in human cells, revealing a second pathway for controlling stored sugar that researchers say overturns decades of settled biology.
Using the new NoPro-clipping technique, the team detected non-protein ubiquitination events that standard methods had missed, including ubiquitin linked to sugars and other metabolites.
Mouse liver experiments showed glycogen levels fell during fasting as ubiquitin tags rose, and boosting glycogen ubiquitination in cells reduced glycogen stores.
The discovery could open drug strategies for glycogen buildup tied to diabetes, liver and heart disease, obesity, and rare Glycogen Storage Diseases that often lack direct treatments.
WEHI said investor talks have already begun, though any therapy would still need replication and validation in animals and humans.
With new gene therapies nearing FDA approval, can this ubiquitin discovery offer a better way to treat sugar storage diseases?
Now that ubiquitin's role has been upended, what other fundamental biology 'facts' are about to be proven wrong?
2026 Breakthrough: Ubiquitin Directly Tags Glycogen, Transforming Understanding and Treatment of Metabolic Diseases
Overview
In April 2026, scientists from WEHI and partner institutions made a groundbreaking discovery that fundamentally changes our understanding of biology: ubiquitin, a protein long thought to only regulate other proteins, was found to directly attach to and control glycogen, the body’s main stored sugar. This challenges over 50 years of established science and rewrites core biological principles. The breakthrough was made possible by a new technique called NoPro-clipping, which allowed researchers to detect ubiquitin on non-protein molecules for the first time, opening up new possibilities for understanding and treating metabolic diseases.