A new drug termed bortezomib, recently approved for multiple myeloma treatment inhibits a molecule termed the proteasome which regulates cells growth survival. Recent research has demonstrated that a molecule which regulates the proteasome, termed Cdc34, is highly overproduced in multiple myeloma cells. Work in our laboratory has discovered a specific Cdc34 region vital to its function. We will test if this region is important for Cdc34 promoting uncontrolled growth of multiple myeloma cells. This site may represent a new therapeutic target to develop drugs for treating multiple myeloma.