BURSTNature, Published online: 03 June 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01741-z
An innovative method of mass spectrometry has detected the small protein ubiquitin on biomolecules other than proteins. In mouse liver, the energy-storing molecule glycogen has a large increase in ubiquitination — involving 1% of the liver’s total ubiquitin — during fasting, when glycogen is broken down.