Seroatlas · Human Serome Atlas

USP15

Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 15

Also known as: KIAA0529, UBP15_HUMAN, UNPH4

Cross-references: UniProt · Ensembl · Human Protein Atlas · GeneCards · NCBI Gene

Protein identityUniProt · HPA

UniProt accession
Q9Y4E8
Gene
USP15
Ensembl
ENSG00000135655
Chromosome
12
Canonical length
981 aa
Protein class
Enzymes, Metabolic proteins, Plasma proteins, Predicted intracellular proteins
Subcellular location
Nucleoplasm,Nuclear bodies,Cytosol
Quaternary structure
Homodimer

OverviewNCBI Gene

This gene encodes a member of the ubiquitin specific protease (USP) family of deubiquitinating enzymes. USP enzymes play critical roles in ubiquitin-dependent processes through polyubiquitin chain disassembly and hydrolysis of ubiquitin-substrate bonds. The encoded protein associates with the COP9 signalosome, and also plays a role in transforming growth factor beta signalling through deubiquitination of receptor-activated SMAD transcription factors. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding multiple isoforms have been observed for this gene, and a pseudogene of this gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 2. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2011]

Canonical amino-acid sequenceUniProt

981 residues, UniProt reviewed canonical sequence.

>Q9Y4E8|USP15
     1  MAEGGAADLD TQRSDIATLL KTSLRKGDTW YLVDSRWFKQ WKKYVGFDSW DKYQMGDQNV
    61  YPGPIDNSGL LKDGDAQSLK EHLIDELDYI LLPTEGWNKL VSWYTLMEGQ EPIARKVVEQ
   121  GMFVKHCKVE VYLTELKLCE NGNMNNVVTR RFSKADTIDT IEKEIRKIFS IPDEKETRLW
   181  NKYMSNTFEP LNKPDSTIQD AGLYQGQVLV IEQKNEDGTW PRGPSTPKSP GASNFSTLPK
   241  ISPSSLSNNY NNMNNRNVKN SNYCLPSYTA YKNYDYSEPG RNNEQPGLCG LSNLGNTCFM
   301  NSAIQCLSNT PPLTEYFLND KYQEELNFDN PLGMRGEIAK SYAELIKQMW SGKFSYVTPR
   361  AFKTQVGRFA PQFSGYQQQD CQELLAFLLD GLHEDLNRIR KKPYIQLKDA DGRPDKVVAE
   421  EAWENHLKRN DSIIVDIFHG LFKSTLVCPE CAKISVTFDP FCYLTLPLPM KKERTLEVYL
   481  VRMDPLTKPM QYKVVVPKIG NILDLCTALS ALSGIPADKM IVTDIYNHRF HRIFAMDENL
   541  SSIMERDDIY VFEININRTE DTEHVIIPVC LREKFRHSSY THHTGSSLFG QPFLMAVPRN
   601  NTEDKLYNLL LLRMCRYVKI STETEETEGS LHCCKDQNIN GNGPNGIHEE GSPSEMETDE
   661  PDDESSQDQE LPSENENSQS EDSVGGDNDS ENGLCTEDTC KGQLTGHKKR LFTFQFNNLG
   721  NTDINYIKDD TRHIRFDDRQ LRLDERSFLA LDWDPDLKKR YFDENAAEDF EKHESVEYKP
   781  PKKPFVKLKD CIELFTTKEK LGAEDPWYCP NCKEHQQATK KLDLWSLPPV LVVHLKRFSY
   841  SRYMRDKLDT LVDFPINDLD MSEFLINPNA GPCRYNLIAV SNHYGGMGGG HYTAFAKNKD
   901  DGKWYYFDDS SVSTASEDQI VSKAAYVLFY QRQDTFSGTG FFPLDRETKG ASAATGIPLE
   961  SDEDSNDNDN DIENENCMHT N

LocalizationUniProt · AlphaFold · HPA

Whether an antibody against USP15 can act on the native protein depends on physical access: surface and secreted proteins are reachable by circulating antibodies, intracellular proteins usually are not.

Antibody reachability
Intracellular
Secreted
No
Transmembrane segments
0
Mean surface accessibility (rSASA)
0.33
Highest tissue expression
166 nTPM

Expression across tissuesHPA

Tissue

  • bone marrow: 166 nTPM
  • retina: 42 nTPM
  • spleen: 38 nTPM
  • lymph node: 31 nTPM
  • testis: 28 nTPM
  • appendix: 28 nTPM

Single-cell type

  • neutrophils: 4,248 nCPM
  • neutrophil progenitors: 1,325 nCPM
  • erythrocyte progenitors: 854 nCPM
  • monocytes: 777 nCPM
  • megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors: 668 nCPM
  • monocyte progenitors: 628 nCPM

Immune cell

  • neutrophil: 301 nTPM
  • basophil: 165 nTPM
  • eosinophil: 65 nTPM
  • classical monocyte: 60 nTPM
  • T-reg: 59 nTPM
  • intermediate monocyte: 31 nTPM

Brain region

  • cerebellum: 40 nTPM
  • choroid plexus: 37 nTPM
  • white matter: 31 nTPM
  • cerebral cortex: 29 nTPM
  • medulla oblongata: 28 nTPM
  • thalamus: 27 nTPM

DiseaseUniProt · ClinVar · IEDB · PubMed

Four sources answering four different questions about USP15.

Disease | ImmuneIEDB

Conditions an epitope on USP15 was assayed in.

Genetic constraint and essentialitygnomAD · DepMap

Does the body need this protein intact? Low LOEUF or a strong DepMap dependency means loss or blockade of the protein is likely to be felt.

gnomAD LOEUF (loss-of-function intolerance)
0.21
gnomAD pLI
1
gnomAD missense Z
3.5
DepMap mean gene effect
-0.13
DepMap dependency class
selective

Cancer expressionTCGA

Across TCGA tumor cohorts, this protein is over-expressed in roughly 5% of surveyed tumor types (aggregate summary; per-cohort expression, alteration, and survival load in the interactive view).

OntologyGO

Biological processes

Molecular functions

Cellular components

Protein domainsUniProt · Pfam · InterPro

KeywordsUniProt

InteractionsUniProt · HPA

Protein binding partners of USP15 in the human serome: UniProt-annotated complex subunits plus reported interactors. Each links to its own Seroatlas record.

Antibody and autoantibody relevanceSeroatlas analysis

Seroatlas reads USP15 as an antibody target. Whether an autoantibody or antibody against USP15 could matter depends on whether native USP15 is physically reachable, whether the body needs it intact, and whether it acts in a disease-relevant tissue.

USP15 is annotated as predominantly intracellular. Intracellular proteins are common autoantibody markers, becoming visible to the immune system after cell injury or altered processing, but are usually markers of disease rather than direct drivers.

Annotation status

The present source text does not explicitly label USP15 as an autoantigen. Seroatlas presents hypothesis context only and does not manufacture a known-serology claim.

Canonical record: https://seroatlas.com/gene/USP15. Study-independent annotations aggregated from UniProt, Human Protein Atlas, PubMed, IEDB, Pfam, InterPro, Gene Ontology, AlphaFold, gnomAD, DepMap, ClinVar, TCGA. Catalog release seroatlas-reviewed-human-uniprot-20260313.

Seroatlas is the reference for exploring autoantibody and antibody serology at the human-protein level: the autoreactome and human serome, multiplex serology (HuProt, HuScan, VirScan, PhIP-Seq).

© 2026 · Seroatlas, Discover Oregon LLC · Terms of use

Loading the interactive Seroatlas protein explorer...