Aaron Ciechanover

Aaron Ciechanover shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, elucidating the fundamental mechanism by which cells tag proteins with ubiquitin chains for proteasomal destruction, a pathway dysregulated in virtually all cancers. His biochemical reconstitution of the ubiquitin conjugation cascade (E1-E2-E3) provided the molecular framework for understanding how oncoproteins and tumor suppressors are regulated through targeted degradation. His discovery enabled the development of proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib for multiple myeloma. His continued work focuses on how the ubiquitin system can be harnessed for novel cancer therapeutics.