Highly sensitive assays for SUMOylation and small ubiquitin-like modifier-dependent protein-protein interactions

Ubiquitination detection techniques

Ubiquitination is an intricately regulated post-translational modification that involves the covalent attachment of ubiquitin to a substrate protein. The complex dynamic nature of the ubiquitination process regulates diverse cellular functions including targeting proteins for degradation, cell cycle, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage repair, and numerous cell signaling pathways. Ubiquitination also serves as a crucial mechanism in protein quality control. Dysregulation in ubiquitination could result in lethal disease conditions such as cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, the ubiquitination cascade has become an attractive target for therapeutic interventions. Enormous efforts have been made to detect ubiquitination involving different detection techniques to better grasp the underlying molecular mechanisms of ubiquitination. This review discusses a wide range of techniques stretching from the simplest assays to real-time assays. This includes western blotting/immunoblotting, fluorescence assays, chemiluminescence assays, spectrophotometric assays, and nanopore sensing assays. This review compares these applications, and the inherent advantages and limitations.

Perry JJ, Liao J. Isopeptidase Kinetics Determination by a Real Time and Sensitive qFRET Approach

Isopeptidase activity of proteases plays critical roles in physiological and pathological processes in living organisms, such as protein stability in cancers and protein activity in infectious diseases. However, the kinetics of protease isopeptidase activity has not been explored before due to a lack of methodology. Here, we report the development of novel qFRET-based protease assay for characterizing the isopeptidase kinetics of SENP1. The reversible process of SUMOylation in vivo requires an enzymatic cascade that includes E1, E2, and E3 enzymes and Sentrin/SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs), which can act either as endopeptidases that process the pre-SUMO before its conjugation, or as isopeptidases to deconjugate SUMO from its target substrate. We first produced the isopeptidase substrate of CyPet-SUMO1/YPet-RanGAP1c by SUMOylation reaction in the presence of SUMO E1 and E2 enzymes. Then a qFRET analyses of real-time FRET signal reduction of the conjugated substrate of CyPet-SUMO1/YPet-RanGAP1c to free CyPet-SUMO1 and YPet-RanGAP1c by the SENP1 were able to obtain the kinetic parameters, K_cat, K_M, and catalytic efficiency (K_cat/K_M) of SENP1. This represents a pioneer effort in isopeptidase kinetics determination. Importantly, the general methodology of qFRET-based protease isopeptidase kinetic determination can also be applied to other proteases.

Robust high-throughput assays to assess discrete steps in ubiquitination and related cascades

Background

Ubiquitination and ubiquitin-like protein post-translational modifications play an enormous number of roles in cellular processes. These modifications are constituted of multistep reaction cascades. Readily implementable and robust methods to evaluate each step of the overall process, while presently limited, are critical to the understanding and modulation of the reaction sequence at any desired level, both in terms of basic research and potential therapeutic drug discovery and development.

Results

We developed multiple robust and reliable high-throughput assays to interrogate each of the sequential discrete steps in the reaction cascade leading to protein ubiquitination. As models for the E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme, the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, the E3 ubiquitin ligase, and their ultimate substrate of ubiquitination in a cascade, we examined Uba1, Rad6, Rad18, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), respectively, in reconstituted systems. Identification of inhibitors of this pathway holds promise in cancer therapy since PCNA ubiquitination plays a central role in DNA damage tolerance and resulting mutagenesis. The luminescence-based assays we developed allow for the quantitative determination of the degree of formation of ubiquitin thioester conjugate intermediates with both E1 and E2 proteins, autoubiquitination of the E3 protein involved, and ubiquitination of the final substrate. Thus, all covalent adducts along the cascade can be individually probed. We tested previously identified inhibitors of this ubiquitination cascade, finding generally good correspondence between compound potency trends determined by more traditional low-throughput methods and the present high-throughput ones.

Conclusions

These approaches are readily adaptable to other E1, E2, and E3 systems, and their substrates in both ubiquitination and ubiquitin-like post-translational modification cascades.

Allosteric Inhibition of Ubiquitin-like Modifications by a Class of Inhibitor of SUMO-Activating Enzyme

Ubiquitin-like (Ubl) post-translational modifications are potential targets for therapeutics. However, the only known mechanism for inhibiting a Ubl-activating enzyme is through targeting its ATP-binding site. Here we identify an allosteric inhibitory site in the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-activating enzyme (E1). This site was unexpected because both it and analogous sites are deeply buried in all previously solved structures of E1s of ubiquitin-like modifiers (Ubl). The inhibitor not only suppresses SUMO E1 activity, but also enhances its degradation in vivo, presumably due to a conformational change induced by the compound. In addition, the lead compound increased the expression of miR-34b and reduced c-Myc levels in lymphoma and colorectal cancer cell lines and a colorectal cancer xenograft mouse model. Identification of this first-in-class inhibitor of SUMO E1 is a major advance in modulating Ubl modifications for therapeutic aims.

The strategies for identification and quantification of SUMOylation

SUMOylation is a post-translational modification that plays critical roles in a multitude of cellular processes including transcription, cellular localization, DNA repair and cell cycle progression. Similar to ubiquitin, the small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) are covalently attached to the epsilon amino group of lysine residues in the substrates. To understand the regulation and the dynamics of post-translational modifications (PTMs), the identification and quantification of SUMOylation is strictly needed. Although numerous proteomic approaches have been developed to identify hundreds of SUMO target proteins, the number of SUMOylation signatures identified from endogenous modified proteins is limited, and the identification of precise acceptor sites remains a challenge due to the low abundance of in vivo SUMO-modified proteins and the high activity of SUMO-specific proteases in cell lysates. In particular, very few sensitive strategies are available for accurate quantification of SUMO target proteins. Within the past decade, mass spectrometry-based strategies have been the most popular technologies for proteome-wide studies of SUMOylation. Recently, some new approaches such as single-molecule detection have been introduced. In this review, we summarize the strategies that have been exploited for enrichment, purification and identification of SUMOylation substrates and acceptor sites as well as ultrasensitive quantification of SUMOylation. We highlight the emerging trends in this field as well.

Development and evaluation of a highly reliable assay for SUMO-specific protease inhibitors

SUMOylation, as a post-translational modification of proteins, plays essential regulatory roles in a variety of pathological conditions. In the dynamic process of SUMOylation and deSUMOylation, SENPs (SUMO-specific proteases), in charge of deconjugation of SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) from substrate proteins, have recently been found to be potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. A reliable and practical assay is much needed to accelerate the discovery of SENPs inhibitors. We established a quantitative assay based on readily available SDS-PAGE-Coomassie system using RanGAP-SUMO as the substrate, thus avoiding the use of expensive fluorescent dyes or the error-prone fluorescent reporter. Its reproducibility and reliability were also evaluated in this report.

An electrophoretic mobility shift assay identifies a mechanistically unique inhibitor of protein sumoylation

The dynamic, posttranslational modification of proteins with a small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) tag has been recognized as an important cellular regulatory mechanism relevant to a number of cancers as well as normal embryonic development. As part of a program aimed toward the identification of inhibitors of SUMO-conjugating enzymes, we developed a microfluidic electrophoretic mobility shift assay to monitor sumoylation events in real time. We disclose herein the use of this assay to identify a cell-permeable compound capable of blocking the transfer of SUMO-1 from the E2 enzyme Ubc9 to the substrate. We screened a small collection of compounds and identified an oxygenated flavonoid derivative that inhibits sumoylation in vitro. Next, we carried out an in-depth mechanistic analysis that ruled out many common false-positive mechanisms such as aggregation or alkylation. Furthermore, we report that this flavonoid inhibits a single step in the sumoylation cascade: the transfer of SUMO from the E2 enzyme (Ubc9) thioester conjugate to the substrate. In addition to having a unique mechanism of action, this inhibitor has a discrete structure-activity relationship uncharacteristic of a promiscuous inhibitor. Cell-based studies showed that the flavonoid inhibits the sumoylation of topoisomerase-I in response to camptothecin treatment in two different breast cancer cell lines, while isomeric analogs are inactive. Importantly, this compound blocks sumoylation while not affecting ubiquitylation in cells. This work identifies a point of entry for pharmacologic inhibition of the sumoylation cascade and may serve as the basis for continued study of additional pharmacophores that modulate SUMO-conjugating enzymes such as Ubc9.

Development of a high-throughput screening assay for inhibitors of small ubiquitin-like modifier proteases

Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO1-3) is a small group of proteins that are ligated to lysine residues in target proteins. SUMO conjugation is a highly dynamic process, as SUMOylated proteins are rapidly deconjugated by SUMO proteases. SUMO conjugation/deconjugation plays pivotal roles in major cellular pathways and is associated with a number of pathological conditions. It is therefore of significant clinical interest to develop new strategies to screen for compounds to specifically interfere with SUMO conjugation/deconjugation. Here, we describe a novel high-throughput screening (HTS)-compatible assay to identify inhibitors of SUMO proteases. The assay is based on AlphaScreen technology and uses His-tagged SUMO2 conjugated to Strep-tagged SUMO3 as a SUMO protease substrate. A bacterial SUMOylation system was used to generate this substrate. A three-step purification strategy was employed to yield substrate of high quality. Our data indicated that this unique substrate can be readily detected in the AlphaScreen assays in a dose-dependent manner. Cleavage reactions by SUMO protease with or without inhibitor were monitored based on AlphaScreen signals. Furthermore, the assay was adapted to a 384-well format, and the interplate and interday variability was evaluated in eight 384-well plates. The average Z' factor was 0.83 ± 0.04, confirming the suitability for HTS applications.

A toolbox approach to high-throughput TR-FRET-based SUMOylation and DeSUMOylation assays

The posttranslational modification of target substrates by the ubiquitin-like proteins, specifically the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO), has emerged as an essential mechanism to regulate protein function and control intracellular trafficking. Traditional methods for monitoring either the attachment or removal of SUMO, such as gel electrophoresis or western blot, are effective but typically suffer from a lack of throughput. Here, we report the development and application of time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET)-based assays capable of detecting SUMOylation or deSUMOylation in a high-throughput screening (HTS) format. Using Ran GTPase-activating protein (RanGAP1) as a model target substrate, we have demonstrated that the SUMOylation of this protein can be detected using LanthaScreen (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) TR-FRET technology. Additionally, we have generated reagents useful for assessing the deSUMOylation activity of a sentrin-specific protease. All assays are performed in 384-well format and display excellent statistical data (Z' > 0.7) with high signal-to-background levels. Together, this collection of tools can be utilized in a modular approach to develop HTS assays for inhibitors of SUMOylation or deSUMOylation.

Ginkgolic acid inhibits protein SUMOylation by blocking formation of the E1-SUMO intermediate

Protein modification by small ubiquitin-related modifier proteins (SUMOs) controls diverse cellular functions. Dysregulation of SUMOylation or deSUMOylation processes has been implicated in the development of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. However, no small-molecule inhibiting protein SUMOylation has been reported so far. Here, we report inhibition of SUMOylation by ginkgolic acid and its analog, anacardic acid. Ginkgolic acid and anacardic acid inhibit protein SUMOylation both in vitro and in vivo without affecting in vivo ubiquitination. Binding assays with a fluorescently labeled probe showed that ginkgolic acid directly binds E1 and inhibits the formation of the E1-SUMO intermediate. These studies will provide not only a useful tool for investigating the roles of SUMO conjugations in a variety of pathways in cells, but also a basis for the development of drugs targeted against diseases involving aberrant SUMOylation.