Glycobiology of α-dystroglycan and muscular dystrophy

Most proteins are modified by glycans, which can modulate the biological properties and functions of glycoproteins. The major glycans can be classified into N-glycans and O-glycans according to their glycan-peptide linkage. This review will provide an overview of the O-mannosyl glycans, one subtype of O-glycans. Originally, O-mannosyl glycan was only known to be present on a limited number of glycoproteins, especially α-dystroglycan (α-DG). However, once a clear relationship was established between O-mannosyl glycan and the pathological mechanisms of some congenital muscular dystrophies in humans, research on the biochemistry and pathology of O-mannosyl glycans has been expanding. Because α-DG glycosylation is defective in congenital muscular dystrophies, which also feature abnormal neuronal migration, these disorders are collectively called α-dystroglycanopathies. In this article, I will describe the structure, biosynthesis and pathology of O-mannosyl glycans.

Ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation at the yeast endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear envelope

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the primary organelle in eukaryotic cells where membrane and secreted proteins are inserted into or across cell membranes. Its membrane bilayer and luminal compartments provide a favorable environment for the folding and assembly of thousands of newly synthesized proteins. However, protein folding is intrinsically error-prone, and various stress conditions can further increase levels of protein misfolding and damage, particularly in the ER, which can lead to cellular dysfunction and disease. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for the selective destruction of a vast array of protein substrates, either for protein quality control or to allow rapid changes in the levels of specific regulatory proteins. In this review, we will focus on the components and mechanisms of ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD), an important branch of the UPS. ER membranes extend from subcortical regions of the cell to the nuclear envelope, with its continuous outer and inner membranes; the nuclear envelope is a specialized subdomain of the ER. ERAD presents additional challenges to the UPS beyond those faced with soluble substrates of the cytoplasm and nucleus. These include recognition of sugar modifications that occur in the ER, retrotranslocation of proteins across the membrane bilayer, and transfer of substrates from the ER extraction machinery to the proteasome. Here, we review characteristics of ERAD substrate degradation signals (degrons), mechanisms underlying substrate recognition and processing by the ERAD machinery, and ideas on the still unresolved problem of how substrate proteins are moved across and extracted from the ER membrane.

Quality control: ER-associated degradation: protein quality control and beyond

Even with the assistance of many cellular factors, a significant fraction of newly synthesized proteins ends up misfolded. Cells evolved protein quality control systems to ensure that these potentially toxic species are detected and eliminated. The best characterized of these pathways, the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD), monitors the folding of membrane and secretory proteins whose biogenesis takes place in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). There is also increasing evidence that ERAD controls other ER-related functions through regulated degradation of certain folded ER proteins, further highlighting the role of ERAD in cellular homeostasis.

Recent technical developments in the study of ER-associated degradation

Endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) is a mechanism during which native and misfolded proteins are recognized and retrotranslocated across the ER membrane to the cytosol for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Like other cellular pathways, the factors required for ERAD have been analyzed using both conventional genetic and biochemical approaches. More recently, however, an integrated top-down approach has identified a functional network that underlies the ERAD system. In turn, bottom-up reconstitution has become increasingly sophisticated and elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying substrate recognition, ubiquitylation, retrotranslocation, and degradation. In addition, a live cell imaging technique and a site-specific in vivo photo-crosslinking approach have further dissected specific steps during ERAD. These technical developments have revealed an unexpected dynamicity of the membrane-associated ERAD complex. In this article, we will discuss how these technical developments have improved our understanding of the ERAD pathway and have led to new questions.

Glycoprotein folding and quality-control mechanisms in protein-folding diseases

Biosynthesis of proteins--from translation to folding to export--encompasses a complex set of events that are exquisitely regulated and scrutinized to ensure the functional quality of the end products. Cells have evolved to capitalize on multiple post-translational modifications in addition to primary structure to indicate the folding status of nascent polypeptides to the chaperones and other proteins that assist in their folding and export. These modifications can also, in the case of irreversibly misfolded candidates, signal the need for dislocation and degradation. The current Review focuses on the glycoprotein quality-control (GQC) system that utilizes protein N-glycosylation and N-glycan trimming to direct nascent glycopolypeptides through the folding, export and dislocation pathways in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A diverse set of pathological conditions rooted in defective as well as over-vigilant ER quality-control systems have been identified, underlining its importance in human health and disease. We describe the GQC pathways and highlight disease and animal models that have been instrumental in clarifying our current understanding of these processes.

Protein O-mannosyltransferases associate with the translocon to modify translocating polypeptide chains

O-Mannosylation and N-glycosylation are essential protein modifications that are initiated in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Protein translocation across the ER membrane and N-glycosylation are highly coordinated processes that take place at the translocon-oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) complex. In analogy, it was assumed that protein O-mannosyltransferases (PMTs) also act at the translocon, however, in recent years it turned out that prolonged ER residence allows O-mannosylation of un-/misfolded proteins or slow folding intermediates by Pmt1-Pmt2 complexes. Here, we reinvestigate protein O-mannosylation in the context of protein translocation. We demonstrate the association of Pmt1-Pmt2 with the OST, the trimeric Sec61, and the tetrameric Sec63 complex in vivo by co-immunoprecipitation. The coordinated interplay between PMTs and OST in vivo is further shown by a comprehensive mass spectrometry-based analysis of N-glycosylation site occupancy in pmtΔ mutants. In addition, we established a microsomal translation/translocation/O-mannosylation system. Using the serine/threonine-rich cell wall protein Ccw5 as a model, we show that PMTs efficiently mannosylate proteins during their translocation into microsomes. This in vitro system will help to unravel mechanistic differences between co- and post-translocational O-mannosylation.

Mining the O-mannose glycoproteome reveals cadherins as major O-mannosylated glycoproteins

The metazoan O-mannose (O-Man) glycoproteome is largely unknown. It has been shown that up to 30% of brain O-glycans are of the O-Man type, but essentially only alpha-dystroglycan (α-DG) of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex is well characterized as an O-Man glycoprotein. Defects in O-Man glycosylation underlie congenital muscular dystrophies and considerable efforts have been devoted to explore this O-glycoproteome without much success. Here, we used our SimpleCell strategy using nuclease-mediated gene editing of a human cell line (MDA-MB-231) to reduce the structural heterogeneity of O-Man glycans and to probe the O-Man glycoproteome. In this breast cancer cell line we found that O-Man glycosylation is primarily found on cadherins and plexins on β-strands in extracellular cadherin and Ig-like, plexin and transcription factor domains. The positions and evolutionary conservation of O-Man glycans in cadherins suggest that they play important functional roles for this large group of cell adhesion glycoproteins, which can now be addressed. The developed O-Man SimpleCell strategy is applicable to most types of cell lines and enables proteome-wide discovery of O-Man protein glycosylation.

False start: cotranslational protein ubiquitination and cytosolic protein quality control

Maintaining proteostasis is crucial to cells given the toxic potential of misfolded proteins and aggregates. To this end, cells rely on a number of quality control pathways that survey proteins both during, as well as after synthesis to prevent protein aggregation, promote protein folding, and to target terminally misfolded proteins for degradation. In eukaryotes, the ubiquitin proteasome system plays a critical role in protein quality control by selectively targeting proteins for degradation. Recent studies have added to our understanding of cytosolic protein quality control, particularly in the area of cotranslational protein ubiquitination, and suggest that overlap exists across co- and post-translational protein quality control networks. Here, we review recent advances made in the area of cytoplasmic protein quality control with an emphasis on the pathways involved in cotranslational degradation of eukaryotic cytosolic proteins.

BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, encompasses the systems required by the cell for the generation and maintenance of the correct levels, conformational state, distribution, and degradation of its proteome. One of the challenges faced by the cell in maintaining proteostasis is the presence of misfolded proteins. Cells therefore have a number of protein quality control pathways to aid in folding or mediate the degradation of misfolded proteins. The ubiquitin proteasome system in particular plays a critical role in protein quality control by selectively targeting proteins for degradation. Nascent polypeptides can be ubiquitinated cotranslationally, however to what extent and how this is used by the cell as a quality control mechanism has, until recently, remained relatively unclear. The picture now emerging is one of two quality control networks: one that recognizes nascent polypeptides on stalled ribosomes and another that targets actively translating polypeptides that misfold, failing to attain their native conformation. These studies underscore the important balance between cotranslational protein folding and degradation in the maintenance of protein homeostasis. In this review we summarize recent advances made in the area of cytoplasmic protein quality control with an emphasis on pathways involved in cotranslational degradation of eukaryotic cytosolic proteins. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Can Proteomics Fill the Gap Between Genomics and Phenotypes?