Tankyrase Loses Its Grip on SH3BP2 in Cherubism

Cherubism, a case of bone remodeling gone haywire, is associated with mutations in the adaptor protein SH3BP2. Two papers in this issue of Cell (Guettler et al. and Levaot et al.) demonstrate that these mutations disrupt the interaction between SH3BP2 and Tankyrase and describe rules for substrate recognition by this poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Establishing such rules paves the way to identifying all Tankyrase-regulated pathways in cells.