The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the ubiquitin-specific proteases (UBP) family of enzymes that cleave ubiquitin from ubiquitinated protein substrates. It is highly expressed in liver and thymus, and is localized to the nucleus. This protein efficiently cleaves only ISG15 (a ubiquitin-like protein) fusions, and deletion of this gene in mice results in a massive increase of ISG15 conjugates in tissues, indicating that this protein is a major ISG15-specific protease. Mice lacking this gene are also hypersensitive to interferon, suggesting a function of this protein in downregulating interferon responses, independent of its isopeptidase activity towards ISG15. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2011]
Transcription factors with Perturb-seq knockdown data for USP18. The Binding column indicates whether any binding evidence exists for this TF–gene pair (ChIP-seq or motif footprint peaks). The Mean coef is the average Perturb-seq regression coefficient across active gRNAs (positive = USP18 upregulated upon KD; negative = downregulated). The Outlier column indicates whether this gene is in the top or bottom 5% of all TF knockdown effects.
| TF | Mean coef | Binding | Outlier | TF→Gene link |
|---|
Open chromatin peaks (ATAC-seq) in the genomic neighbourhood of USP18, linked by TSS proximity or chromatin conformation (Multiome / HiCAR). Each element overlaps at least one TF ChIP-seq binding site — the TFs column shows how many distinct TFs bind that element.
| Accessibility | Element | Dist. to TSS | Link type | TFs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| chr22:18,149,651–18,150,235 | at TSS | At TSS | 573 | |
| chr22:18,157,228–18,157,442 | 7.4 kb | Proximal (<10kb) | 196 |
Genomic view of the USP18 locus showing ATAC-seq accessibility and RNA-seq expression across the ESC → DE time course, together with TF binding peaks and element-to-TSS loop connections.