In eukaryotic cells, most proteins in the cytosol and nucleus are degraded via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The 26S proteasome is a self-compartmentalizing protease comprised of approximately 31 different subunits. It contains a barrel-shaped proteolytic core complex (the 20S proteasome), capped at one or both ends by 19S regulatory complexes, which recognize ubiquitinated proteins. Protein degradation by proteasomes is the source of most antigenic peptides presented on MHC class I molecules. This gene encodes a non-ATPase subunit of the 26S proteasome. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]