The ubiquitin-proteasome system regulates chloroplast biogenesis

In a recently published work, we identified the first chloroplast-localized E3 ligase, and showed that it degrades TOC translocon proteins by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). This regulation was found to be critical for plastid developmental transitions, such as the conversion of etioplasts to chloroplasts. Here we discuss the importance of SP1 for plants under different circumstances, and speculate about SP1 function and its possible application in agriculture. We anticipate that further work in this area may reveal additional roles of the UPS system, through action on other chloroplast OEPs with different roles in plastid biogenesis and function.

Enhancement of c-Myc degradation by BLM helicase leads to delayed tumor initiation

The spectrum of tumors that arise owing to the overexpression of c-Myc and loss of BLM is very similar. Hence, it was hypothesized that the presence of BLM negatively regulates c-Myc functions. By using multiple isogenic cell lines, we observed that the decrease of endogenous c-Myc levels that occurs in the presence of BLM is reversed when the cells are treated with proteasome inhibitors, indicating that BLM enhances c-Myc turnover. Whereas the N-terminal region of BLM interacts with c-Myc, the rest of the helicase interacts with the c-Myc E3 ligase Fbw7. The two BLM domains act as 'clamp and/or adaptor', enhancing the binding of c-Myc to Fbw7. BLM promotes Fbw7-dependent K48-linked c-Myc ubiquitylation and its subsequent degradation in a helicase-independent manner. A subset of BLM-regulated genes that are also targets of c-Myc were determined and validated at both RNA and protein levels. To obtain an in vivo validation of the effect of BLM on c-Myc-mediated tumor initiation, isogenic cells from colon cancer cells that either do or do not express BLM had been manipulated to block c-Myc expression in a controlled manner. By using these cell lines, the metastatic potential and rate of initiation of tumors in nude mice were determined. The presence of BLM decreases c-Myc-mediated invasiveness and delays tumor initiation in a mouse xenograft model. Consequently, in tumors that express BLM but not c-Myc, we observed a decreased ratio of proliferation to apoptosis together with a suppressed expression of the angiogenesis marker CD31. Hence, partly owing to its regulation of c-Myc stability, BLM acts as a 'caretaker tumor suppressor'.

High-throughput screening AlphaScreen assay for identification of small-molecule inhibitors of ubiquitin E3 ligase SCFSkp2-Cks1

Decreased levels of cell cycle inhibitor p27(Kip1) due to excessive degradation occur in a variety of aggressive human tumors. Since reduced p27(Kip1) expression has been associated with a poor prognosis in many human cancers and resistance to certain antitumor therapies, elevation of p27(Kip1) expression could improve prognosis and prevent excessive cell proliferation. SCF(Skp2) is one of the major ubiquitin E3 ligases responsible for degradation of p27(Kip1). Ubiquitination of p27(Kip1) also requires a small adaptor protein, Cks1, which facilitates substrate recruitment by bridging the interaction between Skp2 and p27(Kip1). It has been shown previously that a direct interaction between Cks1 and Skp2 is required for p27(Kip1) degradation. Accordingly, perturbation of the Skp2-Cks1 interaction may represent an attractive target for pharmacological intervention. Here we describe a high-throughput AlphaScreen assay for discovering small-molecule inhibitors of the Skp2-Cks1 protein-protein interaction in vitro. Two compounds (NSC689857 and NSC681152) were identified and validated through a structure-activity relationship analysis. Both compounds were also shown to inhibit p27(Kip1) ubiquitination in vitro. These studies demonstrate that disruption of the Skp2-Cks1 interaction provides a viable strategy to prevent p27(Kip1) ubiquitination and may potentially be useful for the control of excessive degradation of this cell cycle inhibitor in tumor cells.

Comprehensive analysis of the rice RING E3 ligase family reveals their functional diversity in response to abiotic stress

A large number of really interesting new gene (RING) E3 ligases contribute to the post-translational modification of target proteins during plant responses to environmental stresses. However, the physical interactome of RING E3 ligases in rice remains largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the expression patterns of 47 Oryza sativa RING finger protein (OsRFP) genes in response to abiotic stresses via semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in silico analysis. Subsequently, molecular dissection of nine OsRFPs was performed by the examination of their E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, subcellular localization, and physical interaction with target proteins. Most of the OsRFPs examined possessed E3 ligase activity and showed diverse subcellular localization. Yeast two-hybrid analysis was then employed to construct a physical interaction map of seven OsRFPs with their 120 interacting proteins. The results indicated that these OsRFPs required dynamic translocation and partitioning for their cellular activation. Heterogeneous overexpression of each of the OsRFP genes in Arabidopsis suggested that they have functionally diverse responses to abiotic stresses, which may have been acquired during evolution. This comprehensive study provides insights into the biological functions of OsRFPs, which may be useful in understanding how rice plants adapt to unfavourable environmental conditions.

Reading, writing, and repair: the role of ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-like proteins in DNA damage signaling and repair

Genomic instability is both a hallmark of cancer and a major contributing factor to tumor development. Central to the maintenance of genome stability is the repair of DNA damage, and the most toxic form of DNA damage is the DNA double-strand break. As a consequence the eukaryotic cell harbors an impressive array of protein machinery to detect and repair DNA breaks through the initiation of a multi-branched, highly coordinated signaling cascade. This signaling cascade, known as the DNA damage response (DDR), functions to integrate DNA repair with a host of cellular processes including cell cycle checkpoint activation, transcriptional regulation, and programmed cell death. In eukaryotes, DNA is packaged in chromatin, which provides a mechanism to regulate DNA transactions including DNA repair through an equally impressive array of post-translational modifications to proteins within chromatin, and the DDR machinery itself. Histones, as the major protein component of chromatin, are subject to a host of post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, methylation, and acetylation. More recently, modification of both the histones and DDR machinery by ubiquitin and other ubiquitin-like proteins, such as the small ubiquitin-like modifiers, has been shown to play a central role in coordinating the DDR. In this review, we explore how ubiquitination and sumoylation contribute to the “writing” of key post-translational modifications within chromatin that are in turn “read” by the DDR machinery and chromatin-remodeling factors, which act together to facilitate the efficient detection and repair of DNA damage.

Mdm2 in evolution

While the presence, in the invertebrates, of genes related in sequence and function to the vertebrate p53 family has been known since the discovery of the fly Drosophila melanogaster Dmp53 and the worm Caenorhabditis elegans cep-1 gene, the failure to discover homologs of the essential vertebrate negative regulator of p53 Mdm2 in these species led to the false assumption that Mdm2 was only present in vertebrates. Very recently, clear homologs of Mdm2 have been discovered in a wide range of invertebrate species, raising a series of interesting questions about the evolution of the p53 pathway. Here, a personal account of the discovery of Mdm2-like genes in the Placozoa and Arthropoda is used to speculate on aspects of the evolution, structure, and function of the p53 pathway.

Ubiquitination-dependent regulation of signaling receptors in cancer

Ubiquitination of signaling cell surface receptors is a key mechanism regulating the availability of these receptors to interact with extracellular ligands. Accordingly, this regulation determines the sensitivity of cells to the humoral and locally secreted regulators of cell function, proliferation, and viability. Alterations in receptor ubiquitination and degradation are often encountered in cancers. Malignant cells utilize modified ubiquitination of signaling receptors to augment or attenuate signaling pathways on the basis of whether the outcome of this signaling is conducive or not for tumor growth and survival. These mechanisms as well as their significance for the treatment of human cancers are discussed.

The yeast ubr1 ubiquitin ligase participates in a prominent pathway that targets cytosolic thermosensitive mutants for degradation

Mutations causing protein misfolding and proteolysis are associated with many genetic diseases. The degradation of these aberrant proteins typically is mediated by protein-quality control pathways that recognize misfolded domains. Several E3 ubiquitin ligases have been shown to target cytosolic misfolded proteins to the proteasome. In this study, we characterized a panel of more than 20 cytosolic thermosensitive mutants from six essential genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These wild-type proteins are stable at restrictive temperature. In contrast, we found that a large portion of the mutants is degraded at nonpermissive temperature in a proteasome-dependent manner. Approximately one-third of the assessed unstable mutants are targeted by the Ubr1 ubiquitin ligase. In two cases, efficient degradation of the thermosensitive mutants is abrogated in the absence of Ubr1 alone, whereas in a third case it is reliant on the dual deletion of Ubr1 and the nuclear E3 ligase San1. We found that the impairment of the degradation of these quality control substrates at the restrictive temperature is associated with the suppression of thermosensitive phenotype. This study confirms that Ubr1 plays an important role in the degradation of cytosolic misfolded proteins and indicates that degradation mediated by protein quality control is a major cause for the conditional lethality of mutated essential genes.

The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System and F-box Proteins in Pathogenic Fungi

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is one of the major protein turnover mechanisms that plays important roles in the regulation of a variety of cellular functions. It is composed of E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzyme), E2 (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme), and E3 ubiquitin ligases that transfer ubiquitin to the substrates that are subjected to degradation in the 26S proteasome. The Skp1, Cullin, F-box protein (SCF) E3 ligases are the largest E3 gene family, in which the F-box protein is the key component to determine substrate specificity. Although the SCF E3 ligase and its F-box proteins have been extensively studied in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, only limited studies have been reported on the role of F-box proteins in other fungi. Recently, a number of studies revealed that F-box proteins are required for fungal pathogenicity. In this communication, we review the current understanding of F-box proteins in pathogenic fungi.

Interactions of bacterial proteins with host eukaryotic ubiquitin pathways

Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification in which one or more 76 amino acid polypeptide ubiquitin molecules are covalently linked to the lysine residues of target proteins. Ubiquitination is the main pathway for protein degradation that governs a variety of eukaryotic cellular processes, including the cell-cycle, vesicle trafficking, antigen presentation, and signal transduction. Not surprisingly, aberrations in the system have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases including inflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent studies have revealed that viruses and bacterial pathogens exploit the host ubiquitination pathways to gain entry and to aid their survival/replication inside host cells. This review will summarize recent developments in understanding the biochemical and structural mechanisms utilized by bacterial pathogens to interact with the host ubiquitination pathways.

The role and regulation of receptor-like kinases in plant defense

Receptor-like kinases (RLKs) in plants are a large superfamily of proteins that are structurally similar. RLKs are involved in a diverse array of plant responses including development, growth, hormone perception and the response to pathogens. Current studies have focused attention on plant receptor-like kinases as an important class of sentinels acting in plant defense responses. RLKs have been identified that act in both broad-spectrum, elicitor-initiated defense responses and as dominant resistance (R) genes in race-specific pathogen defense. Most defense-related RLKs are of the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) subclass although new data are highlighting other classes of RLKs as important players in defense responses. As our understanding of RLK structure, activation and signaling has expanded, the role of the ubiquitin/proteasome system in the regulation of these receptors has emerged as a central theme.