Protein / target
Large ribosomal subunit protein uL18
Protein at a glance
Biological role
Ubiquitin ligase inhibitor
Strongest disease association
Genetic Diseases, Inborn
Therapeutic position
Established drug target
Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.
Protein profile
Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.
Function overview
Component of the ribosome, a large ribonucleoprotein complex responsible for the synthesis of proteins in the cell.
View complete UniProt function annotationHide complete annotation
Component of the ribosome, a large ribonucleoprotein complex responsible for the synthesis of proteins in the cell. The small ribosomal subunit (SSU) binds messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and translates the encoded message by selecting cognate aminoacyl-transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules. The large subunit (LSU) contains the ribosomal catalytic site termed the peptidyl transferase center (PTC), which catalyzes the formation of peptide bonds, thereby polymerizing the amino acids delivered by tRNAs into a polypeptide chain. The nascent polypeptides leave the ribosome through a tunnel in the LSU and interact with protein factors that function in enzymatic processing, targeting, and the membrane insertion of nascent chains at the exit of the ribosomal tunnel. As part of the 5S RNP/5S ribonucleoprotein particle it is an essential component of the LSU, required for its formation and the maturation of rRNAs (PubMed:12962325, PubMed:19061985, PubMed:23636399, PubMed:24120868). It also couples ribosome biogenesis to p53/TP53 activation. As part of the 5S RNP it accumulates in the nucleoplasm and inhibits MDM2, when ribosome biogenesis is perturbed, mediating the stabilization and the activation of TP53 (PubMed:24120868)
Subcellular location
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (31)Hide
Gene Ontology
- Ccytoplasm
- Ccytosol
- Ccytosolic large ribosomal subunit
- Ccytosolic ribosome
- Cendoplasmic reticulum
- Cextracellular exosome
- Cfocal adhesion
- Cmembrane
- Cnucleolus
- Cnucleoplasm
- Cnucleus
- Cprotein-containing complex
Approved medicines with mapped indications
Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.
Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.
Drugs targeting this protein
How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.
ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.
Translational evidence
Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.
Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene RPL5
Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene RPL5 that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.
View evidence synthesis (3)Hide
This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.
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Drug development
5 compounds recorded · 1 approved · 4 in clinical development
View all recorded compounds (5)Hide
Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.
Tractability
Small molecules — Strong
Protein degraders — Emerging
Other modalities — Strong
View underlying tractability evidence (8)Hide
Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.
Clinical trials
Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.
View all trials (23)Hide
ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.
What's happening now
Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.
- Withdrawn from market
Market withdrawal: Translarna (EMA)
- New publicationAtaluren for drug-resistant epilepsy in nonsense variant-mediated Dravet syndrome and CDKL5 deficiency disorder.
- New publicationAtaluren for the treatment of nonsense-mutation cystic fibrosis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.
Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.