Role of a ubiquitin-like modification in polarized morphogenesis

Evaluation of the toxoplasma Urm1 gene deletion mutant (PruΔUrm1) as a promising vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis in mice

Toxoplasmosis is a significant zoonotic disease that poses a serious threat to both human and animal health. Despite ongoing research, developing an effective vaccine for toxoplasmosis remains a challenge. In this study, we evaluated the vaccine potential of the Toxoplasma Urm1 gene deletion mutant (PruΔUrm1) by assessing its pathogenicity and protective efficacy in mice. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we successfully created a type II Toxoplasma gondii Pru mutant strain with a deleted Urm1 gene. Compared to the wild-type parasite, the PruΔUrm1 strain exhibited significantly reduced invasive and proliferative abilities in vitro. In in vivo studies, mice intraperitoneally infected with the parental Pru strain showed severe symptoms including emaciation, hunching, and high mortality rates. In contrast, mice infected with PruΔUrm1 tachyzoites demonstrated a 100 % survival rate, no overt symptoms, and a markedly reduced parasite burden in the liver, spleen, and lungs, indicating reduced pathogenicity. Notably, PruΔUrm1 vaccination triggered a strong immune response, characterized by significantly elevated cytokine levels, including TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-10. Furthermore, we assessed the immunoprotective efficacy of PruΔUrm1 vaccination in mice against type I strains. Mice immunized with PruΔUrm1 were able to resist the tachyzoites of type I RH wild-type parasites, achieving a 100 % survival rate and significantly reduced parasite loads in the liver, spleen and lungs. These data demonstrate that PruΔUrm1 immunization provides effective protection against acute Toxoplasma infections and holds promise as a potential vaccine candidate for toxoplasmosis.

ZNF142 mutation causes sex-dependent neurologic disorder

BACKGROUND

Sex-specific predilection in neurological diseases caused by mutations in autosomal genes is a phenomenon whose molecular basis is poorly understood. We studied females of consanguineous Bedouin kindred presenting with severe global developmental delay and epilepsy.

METHODS

Linkage analysis, whole exome sequencing, generation of CRISPR/cas9 knock-in mice, mouse behaviour and molecular studies RESULTS: Linkage analysis and whole exome sequencing studies of the affected kindred delineated a ~5 Mbp disease-associated chromosome 2q35 locus, containing a novel homozygous frameshift truncating mutation in ZNF142, in line with recent studies depicting similar ZNF142 putative loss-of-function human phenotypes with female preponderance. We generated knock-in mice with a truncating mutation adjacent to the human mutation in the mouse ortholog. Behaviour studies of homozygous Zfp142R1508* mice showed significant phenotype only in mutant females, with learning and memory deficits, hyperactivity and aberrant loss of fear of open spaces. Bone marrow and spleen of homozygous Zfp142R1508* mice showed depletion of lymphoid and haematopoietic cells, mostly in females. RT-PCR showed lower expression of Zpf142 in brain compartments of female versus male wild-type mice. RNA-seq studies of hippocampus, hypothalamus, cortex and cerebellum of female wild-type versus homozygous Zfp142R1508* mice demonstrated differentially expressed genes. Notably, expression of Taok1 in the cortex and of Mllt6 in the hippocampus was downregulated in homozygous Zfp142R1508* mice. Taok1 mutations have been associated with aberrant neurodevelopment and behaviour. Mllt6 expression is regulated by sex hormones and Mllt6 null-mutant mice present with haematopoietic, immune system and female-specific behaviour phenotypes.

CONCLUSION

ZNF142 mutation downregulates Mllt6 and Taok1, causing a neurodevelopmental phenotype in humans and mice with female preponderance.

Stability of Rad51 recombinase and persistence of Rad51 DNA repair foci depends on post-translational modifiers, ubiquitin and SUMO

The DNA double-strand breaks are particularly deleterious, especially when an error-free repair pathway is unavailable, enforcing the error-prone recombination pathways to repair the lesion. Cells can resume the cell cycle but at the expense of decreased viability due to genome rearrangements. One of the major players involved in recombinational repair of DNA damage is Rad51 recombinase, a protein responsible for presynaptic complex formation. We previously showed that an increased level of this protein promotes the usage of illegitimate recombination. Here we show that the level of Rad51 is regulated via the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway. The ubiquitination of Rad51 depends on multiple E3 enzymes, including SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligases. We also demonstrate that Rad51 can be modified by both ubiquitin and SUMO. Moreover, its modification with ubiquitin may lead to opposite effects: degradation dependent on Rad6, Rad18, Slx8, Dia2, and the anaphase-promoting complex, or stabilization dependent on Rsp5. We also show that post-translational modifications with SUMO and ubiquitin affect Rad51's ability to form and disassemble DNA repair foci, respectively, influencing cell cycle progression and cell viability in genotoxic stress conditions. Our data suggest the existence of a complex E3 ligases network that regulates Rad51 recombinase's turnover, its molecular activity, and access to DNA, limiting it to the proportions optimal for the actual cell cycle stage and growth conditions, e.g., stress. Dysregulation of this network would result in a drop in cell viability due to uncontrolled genome rearrangement in the yeast cells. In mammals would promote the development of genetic diseases and cancer.

The Ubiquitin-like Proteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this review, we present a comprehensive list of the ubiquitin-like modifiers (Ubls) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a common model organism used to study fundamental cellular processes that are conserved in complex multicellular organisms, such as humans. Ubls are a family of proteins that share structural relationships with ubiquitin, and which modify target proteins and lipids. These modifiers are processed, activated and conjugated to substrates by cognate enzymatic cascades. The attachment of substrates to Ubls alters the various properties of these substrates, such as function, interaction with the environment or turnover, and accordingly regulate key cellular processes, including DNA damage, cell cycle progression, metabolism, stress response, cellular differentiation, and protein homeostasis. Thus, it is not surprising that Ubls serve as tools to study the underlying mechanism involved in cellular health. We summarize current knowledge on the activity and mechanism of action of the S. cerevisiae Rub1, Smt3, Atg8, Atg12, Urm1 and Hub1 modifiers, all of which are highly conserved in organisms from yeast to humans.

Sera Protein Signatures of Endometrial Cancer Lymph Node Metastases

The presence of lymph node metastases in endometrial cancer patients is a critical factor guiding treatment decisions; however, surgical and imaging methods for their detection are limited by morbidity and inaccuracy. To determine if sera can predict the presence of positive lymph nodes, sera collected from endometrial cancer patients with or without lymph node metastases, and benign gynecology surgical patients (N = 20 per group) were subjected to electron spray ionization mass spectrometry (ES-MS). Peaks that were significantly different among the groups were evaluated by leave one out cross validation (LOOCV) for their ability to differentiation between the groups. Proteins in the peaks were identified by MS/MS of five specimens in each group. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was used to predict pathways regulated by the protein profiles. LOOCV of sera protein discriminated between each of the group comparisons and predicted positive lymph nodes. Pathways implicated in metastases included loss of PTEN activation and PI3K, AKT and PKA activation, leading to calcium signaling, oxidative phosphorylation and estrogen receptor-induced transcription, leading to platelet activation, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and senescence. Upstream activators implicated in these events included neurostimulation and inflammation, activation of G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Gβγ, loss of HER-2 activation and upregulation of the insulin receptor.

OKN-007 Alters Protein Expression Profiles in High-Grade Gliomas: Mass Spectral Analysis of Blood Sera

Current therapies for high-grade gliomas, particularly glioblastomas (GBM), do not extend patient survival beyond 16–22 months. OKN-007 (OKlahoma Nitrone 007), which is currently in phase II (multi-institutional) clinical trials for GBM patients, and has demonstrated efficacy in several rodent and human xenograft glioma models, shows some promise as an anti-glioma therapeutic, as it affects most aspects of tumorigenesis (tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, migration, and apoptosis). Combined with the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide (TMZ), OKN-007 is even more effective by affecting chemo-resistant tumor cells. In this study, mass spectrometry (MS) methodology ESI-MS, mass peak analysis (Leave One Out Cross Validation (LOOCV) and tandem MS peptide sequence analyses), and bioinformatics analyses (Ingenuity^® Pathway Analysis (IPA^®)), were used to identify up- or down-regulated proteins in the blood sera of F98 glioma-bearing rats, that were either untreated or treated with OKN-007. Proteins of interest identified by tandem MS-MS that were decreased in sera from tumor-bearing rats that were either OKN-007-treated or untreated included ABCA2, ATP5B, CNTN2, ITGA3, KMT2D, MYCBP2, NOTCH3, and VCAN. Conversely, proteins of interest in tumor-bearing rats that were elevated following OKN-007 treatment included ABCA6, ADAMTS18, VWA8, MACF1, and LAMA5. These findings, in general, support our previous gene analysis, indicating that OKN-007 may be effective against the ECM. These findings also surmise that OKN-007 may be more effective against oligodendrogliomas, other brain tumors such as medulloblastoma, and possibly other types of cancers.

Ubiquitin-like 3 as a new protein-sorting factor for small extracellular vesicles

Ubiquitin-like 3 (UBL3) is a well-conserved ubiquitin-like protein (UBL) in eukaryotes and regulates the ubiquitin cascade, but the significant roles of UBL3 in cellular processes remained unknown. Recently, UBL3 was elucidated to be a post-translational modification factor that promotes protein sorting to small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). Proteins sorted into sEVs have been studied as etiologies of sEV-related diseases. Also, there have been attempts to construct drug delivery systems (DDSs) by loading proteins into sEVs. In this review, we introduce the new concept that UBL3 has a critical role in the protein-sorting system and compare structure conservation between UBL3 and other UBLs from an evolutionary perspective. We conclude with future perspectives for the utility of UBL3 in sEV-related diseases and DDS.Key words: UBL3, small extracellular vesicles, protein sorting, ubiquitin-like protein, post-translational modification.

UBL5/Hub1: An Atypical Ubiquitin-Like Protein with a Typical Role as a Stress-Responsive Regulator

Members of the ubiquitin-like protein family are known for their ability to modify substrates by covalent conjugation. The highly conserved ubiquitin relative UBL5/Hub1, however, is atypical because it lacks a carboxy-terminal di-glycine motif required for conjugation, and the whole E1-E2-E3 enzyme cascade is likely absent. Though the conjugation-mediated role of UBL5/Hub1 is controversial, it undoubtedly functions by interacting non-covalently with its partners. Several interactors of UBL5/Hub1 identified to date have suggested broad stress-responsive functions of the protein, for example, stress-induced control of pre-mRNA splicing, Fanconi anemia pathway of DNA damage repair, and mitochondrial unfolded protein response. While having an atypical mode of function, UBL5/Hub1 is still a stress protein that regulates feedback to various stimuli in a similar manner to other ubiquitin-like proteins. In this review, I discuss recent progress in understanding the functions of UBL5/Hub1 and the fundamental questions which remain to be answered.

Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-Like Proteins and Domains in Ribosome Production and Function: Chance or Necessity?

Ubiquitin is a small protein that is highly conserved throughout eukaryotes. It operates as a reversible post-translational modifier through a process known as ubiquitination, which involves the addition of one or several ubiquitin moieties to a substrate protein. These modifications mark proteins for proteasome-dependent degradation or alter their localization or activity in a variety of cellular processes. In most eukaryotes, ubiquitin is generated by the proteolytic cleavage of precursor proteins in which it is fused either to itself, constituting a polyubiquitin precursor, or as a single N-terminal moiety to ribosomal proteins, which are practically invariably eL40 and eS31. Herein, we summarize the contribution of the ubiquitin moiety within precursors of ribosomal proteins to ribosome biogenesis and function and discuss the biological relevance of having maintained the explicit fusion to eL40 and eS31 during evolution. There are other ubiquitin-like proteins, which also work as post-translational modifiers, among them the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO). Both ubiquitin and SUMO are able to modify ribosome assembly factors and ribosomal proteins to regulate ribosome biogenesis and function. Strikingly, ubiquitin-like domains are also found within two ribosome assembly factors; hence, the functional role of these proteins will also be highlighted.

Selection and Validation of Reference Genes for qRT-PCR Analysis in the Oil-Rich Tuber Crop Tiger Nut (Cyperus esculentus) Based on Transcriptome Data

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus), a perennial C₄ plant of the Cyperaceae family, is an unconventional crop that is distinguished by its oil-rich tubers, which also possesses the advantages of strong resistance, wide adaptability, short life periods, and large biomass. To facilitate studies on gene expression in this species, we identified and validated a series of reference genes (RGs) based on transcriptome data, which can be employed as internal controls for qRT-PCR analysis in tiger nut. Fourteen putative candidate RGs were identified and evaluated across nine different tissues of two cultivars, and the RGs were analyzed using three different algorithms (geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper). The stability rankings of the candidate RGs were merged into consensus lists with RankAggreg. For the below-ground storage organ of tiger nut, the optimal RGs were TUB4 and UCE2 in different developmental stages of tubers. UCE2 and UBL5 were the most stably expressed RGs among all tissues, while Rubisco and PGK exhibited the lowest expression stability. UCE2, UBL5 and Rubisco were compared to normalize the expression levels of the caleosin (CLO) and diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2-2 (DGAT2-2) genes across the same tissues. Our results showed that the RGs identified in this study, which exhibit more uniform expression patterns, may be utilized for the normalization of qRT-PCR results, promoting further research on gene expression in various tissues of tiger nut.

Serum discrimination and phenotype assessment of coronary artery disease patents with and without type 2 diabetes prior to coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) accelerates coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerosis, the causes of most heart attacks. The biomolecules involved in these inter-related disease processes are not well understood. This study analyzes biomolecules in the sera of patients with CAD, with and without type (T) 2DM, who are about to undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The goal is to develop methodology to help identify and monitor CAD patients with and without T2DM, in order to better understand these phenotypes and to glean relationships through analysis of serum biomolecules. Aorta, fat, muscle, and vein tissues from CAD T2DM patients display diabetic-related histologic changes (e.g., lipid accumulation, fibrosis, loss of cellularity) when compared to non-diabetic CAD patients. The patient discriminatory methodology utilized is serum biomolecule mass profiling. This mass spectrometry (MS) approach is able to distinguish the sera of a group of CAD patients from controls (p value 10⁻¹⁵), with the CAD group containing both T2DM and non-diabetic patients. This result indicates the T2DM phenotype does not interfere appreciably with the CAD determination versus control individuals. Sera from a group of T2DM CAD patients however are distinguishable from non-T2DM CAD patients (p value 10⁻⁸), indicating it may be possible to examine the T2DM phenotype within the CAD disease state with this MS methodology. The same serum samples used in the CAD T2DM versus non-T2DM binary group comparison were subjected to MS/MS peptide structure analysis to help identify potential biochemical and phenotypic changes associated with CAD and T2DM. Such peptide/protein identifications could lead to improved understanding of underlying mechanisms, additional biomarkers for discriminating and monitoring these disease conditions, and potential therapeutic targets. Bioinformatics/systems biology analysis of the peptide/protein changes associated with CAD and T2DM suggested cell pathways/systems affected include atherosclerosis, DM, fibrosis, lipogenesis, loss of cellularity (apoptosis), and inflammation.

Ubiquitin-Like protein 5 interacts with the silencing suppressor p3 of rice stripe virus and mediates its degradation through the 26S proteasome pathway

Ubiquitin like protein 5 (UBL5) interacts with other proteins to regulate their function but differs from ubiquitin and other UBLs because it does not form covalent conjugates. Ubiquitin and most UBLs mediate the degradation of target proteins through the 26S proteasome but it is not known if UBL5 can also do that. Here we found that the UBL5s of rice and Nicotiana benthamiana interacted with rice stripe virus (RSV) p3 protein. Silencing of NbUBL5s in N. benthamiana facilitated RSV infection, while UBL5 overexpression conferred resistance to RSV in both N. benthamiana and rice. Further analysis showed that NbUBL5.1 impaired the function of p3 as a suppressor of silencing by degrading it through the 26S proteasome. NbUBL5.1 and OsUBL5 interacted with RPN10 and RPN13, the receptors of ubiquitin in the 26S proteasome. Furthermore, silencing of NbRPN10 or NbRPN13 compromised the degradation of p3 mediated by NbUBL5.1. Together, the results suggest that UBL5 mediates the degradation of RSV p3 protein through the 26S proteasome, a previously unreported plant defense strategy against RSV infection.

Ubiquitin-like proteins in the DNA damage response: the next generation

DNA suffers constant insult from a variety of endogenous and exogenous sources. To deal with the arising lesions, cells have evolved complex and coordinated pathways, collectively termed the DNA damage response (DDR). Importantly, an improper DDR can lead to genome instability, premature ageing and human diseases, including cancer as well as neurodegenerative disorders. As a crucial process for cell survival, regulation of the DDR is multi-layered and includes several post-translational modifications. Since the discovery of ubiquitin in 1975 and the ubiquitylation cascade in the early 1980s, a number of ubiquitin-like proteins (UBLs) have been identified as post-translational modifiers. However, while the importance of ubiquitin and the UBLs SUMO and NEDD8 in DNA damage repair and signalling is well established, the roles of the remaining UBLs in the DDR are only starting to be uncovered. Herein, we revise the current status of the UBLs ISG15, UBL5, FAT10 and UFM1 as emerging co-regulators of DDR processes. In fact, it is becoming clear that these post-translational modifiers play important pleiotropic roles in DNA damage and/or associated stress-related cellular responses. Expanding our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these emerging UBL functions will be fundamental for enhancing our knowledge of the DDR and potentially provide new therapeutic strategies for various human diseases including cancer.

Distinguishing and phenotype monitoring of traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome including chronic migraine in serum of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and persistent post-concussion syndrome (PCS) including chronic migraine (CM) are major health issues for civilians and the military. It is important to understand underlying biochemical mechanisms of these conditions, and be able to monitor them in an accurate and minimally invasive manner. This study describes the initial use of a novel serum analytical platform to help distinguish TBI patients, including those with post-traumatic headache (PTH), and to help identify phenotypes at play in these disorders. The hypothesis is that physiological responses to disease states like TBI and PTH and related bodily stresses are reflected in biomolecules in the blood in disease-specific manner. Leave one out (serum sample) cross validations (LOOCV) and sample randomizations were utilized to distinguished serum samples from the following TBI patient groups: TBI +PTSD + CM + severe depression (TBI "most affected" group) vs healthy controls, TBI "most affected" vs TBI, TBI vs controls, TBI + CM vs controls, and TBI + CM vs TBI. Inter-group discriminatory p values were ≤ 10-10, and sample group randomizations resulted in p non-significant values. Peptide/protein identifications of discriminatory mass peaks from the TBI "most affected" vs controls and from the TBI plus vs TBI minus CM groups yielded information of the cellular/molecular effects of these disorders (immune responses, amyloidosis/Alzheimer's disease/dementia, neuronal development). More specific biochemical disease effects appear to involve blood brain barrier, depression, migraine headache, autoimmunity, and autophagy pathways. This study demonstrated the ability for the first time of a novel, accurate, biomarker platform to monitor these conditions in serum, and help identify biochemical relationships leading to better understanding of these disorders and to potential therapeutic approaches.

The tri-snRNP specific protein FgSnu66 is functionally related to FgPrp4 kinase in Fusarium graminearum

Deletion of Prp4, the only kinase among spliceosome components, is not lethal in Fusarium graminearum but Fgprp4 mutants have severe growth defects and produced spontaneous suppressors. To identify novel suppressor mutations of Fgprp4, we sequenced the genome of suppressor S37 that was normal in growth but only partially recovered for intron splicing and identified a tandem duplication of 9-aa in the tri-snRNP component FgSNU66. Among the 19 additional suppressor strains found to have mutations in FgSNU66 (out of 260 screened), five had the same 9-aa duplication event with S37 and another five had the R477H/C mutation. The rest had nonsense or G-to-D mutations in the C-terminal 27-aa (CT27) region of FgSnu66, which is absent in its yeast ortholog. Truncation of this C-terminal region reduced the interaction of FgSnu66 with FgHub1 but increased its interaction with FgPrp8 and FgPrp6. Five phosphorylation sites were identified in FgSnu66 by phosphoproteomic analysis and the T418A-S420A-S422A mutation was shown to reduce virulence. Overall, our results showed that mutations in FgSNU66 can suppress deletion of Fgprp4, which has not been reported in other organisms, and the C-terminal tail of FgSnu66 plays a role in its interaction with key tri-snRNP components during spliceosome activation.

Enzyme reversal to explore the function of yeast E3 ubiquitin-ligases

The covalent attachment of ubiquitin onto proteins can elicit a variety of downstream consequences. Attachment is mediated by a large array of E3 ubiquitin ligases, each thought be subject to regulatory control and to have a specific repertoire of substrates. Assessing the biological roles of ligases, and in particular, identifying their biologically relevant substrates has been a persistent yet challenging question. In this study, we describe tools that may help achieve both of these goals. We describe a strategy whereby the activity of a ubiquitin ligase has been enzymatically reversed, accomplished by fusing it to a catalytic domain of an exogenous deubiquitinating enzyme. We present a library of 72 "anti-ligases" that appear to work in a dominant-negative fashion to stabilize their cognate substrates against ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal and lysosomal degradation. We then used the ligase-deubiquitinating enzyme (DUb) library to screen for E3 ligases involved in post-Golgi/endosomal trafficking. We identify ligases previously implicated in these pathways (Rsp5 and Tul1), in addition to ligases previously localized to endosomes (Pib1 and Vps8). We also document an optimized workflow for isolating and analyzing the "ubiquitome" of yeast, which can be used with mass spectrometry to identify substrates perturbed by expression of particular ligase-DUb fusions.

Overexpression of ubiquitin-like LpHUB1 gene confers drought tolerance in perennial ryegrass

HUB1, also known as Ubl5, is a member of the subfamily of ubiquitin-like post-translational modifiers. HUB1 exerts its role by conjugating with protein targets. The function of this protein has not been studied in plants. A HUB1 gene, LpHUB1, was identified from serial analysis of gene expression data and cloned from perennial ryegrass. The expression of this gene was reported previously to be elevated in pastures during the summer and by drought stress in climate-controlled growth chambers. Here, pasture-type and turf-type transgenic perennial ryegrass plants overexpressing LpHUB1 showed improved drought tolerance, as evidenced by improved turf quality, maintenance of turgor and increased growth. Additional analyses revealed that the transgenic plants generally displayed higher relative water content, leaf water potential, and chlorophyll content and increased photosynthetic rate when subjected to drought stress. These results suggest HUB1 may play an important role in the tolerance of perennial ryegrass to abiotic stresses.

The conserved ubiquitin-like protein Hub1 plays a critical role in splicing in human cells

Different from canonical ubiquitin-like proteins, Hub1 does not form covalent conjugates with substrates but binds proteins non-covalently. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hub1 associates with spliceosomes and mediates alternative splicing of SRC1, without affecting pre-mRNA splicing generally. Human Hub1 is highly similar to its yeast homolog, but its cellular function remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that human Hub1 binds to the spliceosomal protein Snu66 as in yeast; however, unlike its S. cerevisiae homolog, human Hub1 is essential for viability. Prolonged in vivo depletion of human Hub1 leads to various cellular defects, including splicing speckle abnormalities, partial nuclear retention of mRNAs, mitotic catastrophe, and consequently cell death by apoptosis. Early consequences of Hub1 depletion are severe splicing defects, however, only for specific splice sites leading to exon skipping and intron retention. Thus, the ubiquitin-like protein Hub1 is not a canonical spliceosomal factor needed generally for splicing, but rather a modulator of spliceosome performance and facilitator of alternative splicing.

Human UBL5 protein interacts with coilin and meets the Cajal bodies

UBL5 protein, a structural homologue of ubiquitin, was shown to be involved in pre-mRNA splicing and transcription regulation in yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans, respectively. However, role of the UBL5 human orthologue is still elusive. In our study, we observed that endogenous human UBL5 that was localized in the nucleus, partially associates with Cajal bodies (CBs), nuclear domains where spliceosomal components are assembled. Simultaneous expression of exogenous UBL5 and coilin resulted in their nuclear colocalization in HeLa cells. The ability of UBL5 to interact with coilin was proved by GST pull-down assay using coilin that was either in vitro translated or extracted from HEK293T cells. Further, our results showed that the UBL5-coilin interaction was not influenced by coilin phosphorylation. These results suggest that UBL5 could be targeted to CBs via its interaction with coilin. Relation between human UBL5 protein and CBs is in the agreement with current observations about yeast orthologue Hub1 playing important role in alternative splicing.

Identification of an Hsp90 mutation that selectively disrupts cAMP/PKA signaling in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The molecular chaperone Hsp90 cooperates with multiple cochaperone proteins as it promotes the folding and activation of diverse client proteins. Some cochaperones regulate the ATPase activity of Hsp90, while others appear to promote Hsp90 interaction with specific types of client proteins. Through its interaction with the adenylate cyclase Cyr1, the Sgt1 cochaperone modulates the activity of the cAMP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A specific mutation in yeast Hsp90, hsc82-W296A, or a mutation in Sgt1, sgt1-K360E, resulted in altered transcription patterns genetically linked to the cAMP pathway. Hsp90 interacted with Cyr1 in vivo and the hsc82-W296A mutation resulted in reduced accumulation of Cyr1. Hsp90-Sgt1 interaction was altered by either the hsc82-W296A or sgt1-K360E mutation, suggesting defective Hsp90-Sgt1 cooperation leads to reduced Cyr1 activity. Microarray analysis of hsc82-W296A cells indicated that over 80 % of all transcriptional changes in this strain may be attributed to altered cAMP signaling. This suggests that a majority of the cellular defects observed in hsc82-W296A cells are due to altered interaction with one specific essential cochaperone, Sgt1 and one essential client, Cyr1. Together our results indicate that specific interaction of Hsp90 and Sgt1 with Cyr1 plays a key role in regulating gene expression, including genes involved in polarized morphogenesis.

Ubiquitin-like proteins

The eukaryotic ubiquitin family encompasses nearly 20 proteins that are involved in the posttranslational modification of various macromolecules. The ubiquitin-like proteins (UBLs) that are part of this family adopt the β-grasp fold that is characteristic of its founding member ubiquitin (Ub). Although structurally related, UBLs regulate a strikingly diverse set of cellular processes, including nuclear transport, proteolysis, translation, autophagy, and antiviral pathways. New UBL substrates continue to be identified and further expand the functional diversity of UBL pathways in cellular homeostasis and physiology. Here, we review recent findings on such novel substrates, mechanisms, and functions of UBLs.

Role of the ubiquitin-like protein Hub1 in splice-site usage and alternative splicing

Alternative splicing of pre-messenger RNAs diversifies gene products in eukaryotes and is guided by factors that enable spliceosomes to recognize particular splice sites. Here we report that alternative splicing of Saccharomyces cerevisiae SRC1 pre-mRNA is promoted by the conserved ubiquitin-like protein Hub1. Structural and biochemical data show that Hub1 binds non-covalently to a conserved element termed HIND, which is present in the spliceosomal protein Snu66 in yeast and mammals, and Prp38 in plants. Hub1 binding mildly alters spliceosomal protein interactions and barely affects general splicing in S. cerevisiae. However, spliceosomes that lack Hub1, or are defective in Hub1-HIND interaction, cannot use certain non-canonical 5' splice sites and are defective in alternative SRC1 splicing. Hub1 confers alternative splicing not only when bound to HIND, but also when experimentally fused to Snu66, Prp38, or even the core splicing factor Prp8. Our study indicates a novel mechanism for splice site utilization that is guided by non-covalent modification of the spliceosome by an unconventional ubiquitin-like modifier.

Histone H2B ubiquitylation disrupts local and higher-order chromatin compaction

Regulation of chromatin structure involves histone posttranslational modifications that can modulate intrinsic properties of the chromatin fiber to change the chromatin state. We used chemically defined nucleosome arrays to demonstrate that H2B ubiquitylation (uH2B), a modification associated with transcription, interferes with chromatin compaction and leads to an open and biochemically accessible fiber conformation. Notably, these effects were specific for ubiquitin, as compaction of chromatin modified with a similar ubiquitin-sized protein, Hub1, was only weakly affected. Applying a fluorescence-based method, we found that uH2B acts through a mechanism distinct from H4 tail acetylation, a modification known to disrupt chromatin folding. Finally, incorporation of both uH2B and acetylated H4 resulted in synergistic inhibition of higher-order chromatin structure formation, possibly a result of their distinct modes of action.

Reversible and irreversible drought-induced changes in the anther proteome of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes IR64 and Moroberekan

Crop yield is most sensitive to water deficit during the reproductive stage. For rice, the most sensitive yield component is spikelet fertility and the most sensitive stage is immediately before heading. Here, we examined the effect of drought on the anther proteome of two rice genotypes: Moroberekan and IR64. Water was withheld for 3 d before heading (3DBH) in well watered controls for 5 d until the flag leaf relative water content (RWC) had declined to 45-50%. Plants were then re-watered and heading occurred 2-3 d later, representing a delay of 4-5 d relative to controls. The anther proteins were separated at 3 DBH, at the end of the stress period, and at heading in stressed/re-watered plants and controls by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis, and 93 protein spots were affected reproducibly in abundance by drought during the experiment across two rice genotypes. After drought stress, upon re-watering, expressions of 24 protein spots were irreversible in both genotypes, 60 protein spots were irreversible in IR64 but reversible in Moroberekan, only nine protein spots were irreversible in Moroberekan while reversible in IR64. Among them, there were 14 newly drought-induced protein spots in IR64; none of them was reversible on re-watering. However, there were 13 newly drought-induced protein spots in Moroberekan, 10 of them were reversible on re-watering, including six drought-induced protein spots that were not reversed in IR64. Taken together, our proteomics data reveal that drought-tolerant genotype Moroberekan possessed better recovery capability following drought and re-watering at the anther proteome level than the drought-sensitive genotype IR64. The disruptions of drought to rice anther development and pollen cell functions are also discussed in the paper.

Genome-scale analysis and comparison of gene expression profiles in developing and germinated pollen in Oryza sativa

Background

Pollen development from the microspore involves a series of coordinated cellular events, and the resulting mature pollen has a specialized function to quickly germinate, produce a polar-growth pollen tube derived from the vegetative cell, and deliver two sperm cells into the embryo sac for double fertilization. The gene expression profiles of developing and germinated pollen have been characterised by use of the eudicot model plant Arabidopsis. Rice, one of the most important cereal crops, has been used as an excellent monocot model. A comprehensive analysis of transcriptome profiles of developing and germinated pollen in rice is important to understand the conserved and diverse mechanism underlying pollen development and germination in eudicots and monocots.

Results

We used Affymetrix GeneChip^® Rice Genome Array to comprehensively analyzed the dynamic changes in the transcriptomes of rice pollen at five sequential developmental stages from microspores to germinated pollen. Among the 51,279 transcripts on the array, we found 25,062 pollen-preferential transcripts, among which 2,203 were development stage-enriched. The diversity of transcripts decreased greatly from microspores to mature and germinated pollen, whereas the number of stage-enriched transcripts displayed a "U-type" change, with the lowest at the bicellular pollen stage; and a transition of overrepresented stage-enriched transcript groups associated with different functional categories, which indicates a shift in gene expression program at the bicellular pollen stage. About 54% of the now-annotated rice F-box protein genes were expressed preferentially in pollen. The transcriptome profile of germinated pollen was significantly and positively correlated with that of mature pollen. Analysis of expression profiles and coexpressed features of the pollen-preferential transcripts related to cell cycle, transcription, the ubiquitin/26S proteasome system, phytohormone signalling, the kinase system and defense/stress response revealed five expression patterns, which are compatible with changes in major cellular events during pollen development and germination. A comparison of pollen transcriptomes between rice and Arabidopsis revealed that 56.6% of the rice pollen preferential genes had homologs in Arabidopsis genome, but 63.4% of these homologs were expressed, with a small proportion being expressed preferentially, in Arabidopsis pollen. Rice and Arabidopsis pollen had non-conservative transcription factors each.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrated that rice pollen expressed a set of reduced but specific transcripts in comparison with vegetative tissues, and the number of stage-enriched transcripts displayed a "U-type" change during pollen development, with the lowest at the bicellular pollen stage. These features are conserved in rice and Arabidopsis. The shift in gene expression program at the bicellular pollen stage may be important to the transition from earlier cell division to later pollen maturity. Pollen at maturity pre-synthesized transcripts needed for germination and early pollen tube growth. The transcription regulation associated with pollen development would have divergence between the two species. Our results also provide novel insights into the molecular program and key components of the regulatory network regulating pollen development and germination.

Using mass spectrometry to identify ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like protein conjugation sites

Ubiquitin (Ub) and the ubiquitin-like proteins (Ubls) are polypeptides that are covalently conjugated to proteins and other biomolecules to modulate their turnover rate, localization, and/or function. The full range of Ubl functions is only beginning to be understood, and the wide variety of Ubl conjugates is only beginning to be identified. Moreover, how Ubl conjugation is regulated, and how Ubl conjugate populations change, e.g., throughout the cell cycle, in response to hormones, nutrients, or stress, or in various disease states, remains largely enigmatic. MS represents a powerful tool for the characterization of PTMs. However, standard sample preparation and data search methods are not amenable to the identification of many types of Ubl conjugates. Here, we describe the challenges of identifying Ub/Ubl conjugates, and propose an improved workflow for identification of Ub/Ubl conjugation sites. Considering the importance of Ubls in normal cellular physiology, and their roles in disease etiology and progression, it will be critical to develop improved high-throughput MS methods capable of efficiently identifying proteins and other biomolecules modified by these very interesting and important PTMs.

Biomarker identification in human pancreatic cancer sera

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to identify biomarkers in sera of pancreatic cancer patients using mass spectrometry (MS) approaches.

METHODS

Sera from patients diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and sera from normal volunteers were subjected to gel electrophoresis to resolve and quantify differences in protein levels. Protein bands that differed quantitatively were digested with trypsin, and peptides were identified by electrospray ionization (ESI) ion-trap tandem MS. Mass spectra were also collected directly from pancreatic cancer sera as well as healthy control sera using ESI-MS.

RESULTS

Three large-mass proteins were found to be elevated in pancreatic cancer sera versus normal sera, alpha-2 macroglobulin, ceruloplasmin, and complement 3C. Complement 3C is a major regulator of inflammatory responses. The ESI-MS of human pancreatic cancer sera versus normal sera revealed greater heterogeneity in cancer sera than control sera, especially in the low-mass region. Bootstrapping statistical analysis identified 20 low-mass serum peaks that correlated with control sera and 20 different peaks that correlated with pancreatic cancer sera.

CONCLUSIONS

The fact that inflammation-sensitive proteins were identified as increased in pancreatic cancer sera supports the hypothesis that inflammatory-driven processes are involved in pancreatic carcinogenesis. Liquid ESI-MS analyses of sera hold promise for future pancreatic cancer blood tests as well as for understanding mechanisms of pancreatic carcinogenesis. The variability observed between the low-mass regions of normal versus pancreatic cancer spectra may aid in diagnosis and therapy.

The Arabidopsis E3 SUMO ligase SIZ1 regulates plant growth and drought responses

Posttranslational modifications of proteins by small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) regulate protein degradation and localization, protein-protein interaction, and transcriptional activity. SUMO E3 ligase functions are executed by SIZ1/SIZ2 and Mms21 in yeast, the PIAS family members RanBP2, and Pc2 in human. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome contains only one gene, SIZ1, that is orthologous to the yeast SIZ1/SIZ2. Here, we show that Arabidopsis SIZ1 is expressed in all plant tissues. Compared with the wild type, the null mutant siz1-3 is smaller in stature because of reduced expression of genes involved in brassinosteroid biosynthesis and signaling. Drought stress induces the accumulation of SUMO-protein conjugates, which is in part dependent on SIZ1 but not on abscisic acid (ABA). Mutant plants of siz1-3 have significantly lower tolerance to drought stress. A genome-wide expression analysis identified approximately 1700 Arabidopsis genes that are induced by drought, with SIZ1 mediating the expression of 300 of them by a pathway independent of DREB2A and ABA. SIZ1-dependent, drought-responsive genes include those encoding enzymes of the anthocyanin synthesis pathway and jasmonate response. From these results, we conclude that SIZ1 regulates Arabidopsis growth and that this SUMO E3 ligase plays a role in drought stress response likely through the regulation of gene expression.

Down-regulation of the beacon gene expression in the regenerating rat adrenal cortex

Beacon, a hypothalamic peptide involved in the regulation of food intake, has been recently shown to be expressed in the adrenal cortex, and to inhibit its secretion and growth. To further characterize the role of beacon in the control of adrenal growth, we investigated the level of beacon gene expression in the regenerating rat adrenal cortex. Conventional reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunocytochemistry demonstrated the expression of beacon mRNA and protein in the adrenals at both days 5 and 8 of regeneration after enucleation and contralateral adrenalectomy. Semiquantitative real time-PCR revealed a net down-regulation of beacon mRNA in the regenerating glands, as compared to the intact adrenal cortex of sham-operated animals. Beacon gene expression was higher at day 8 than at day 5 of regeneration. Mitotic index, as assayed by the stachmokinetic method with vincristin, was negligible in the intact adrenal, but greatly elevated in regenerating gland, with a higher index found at day 5 than at day 8 after surgery. Taken together our findings indicate that the level of beacon gene expression is inversely correlated with the proliferative activity of adrenocortical cells, and suggest that beacon might act as an endogenous inhibitor of adrenocortical growth in the rat.

Proteomics identification of differentially expressed proteins associated with pollen germination and tube growth reveals characteristics of germinated Oryza sativa pollen

Mature pollen from most plant species is metabolically quiescent; however, after pollination, it germinates quickly and gives rise to a pollen tube to transport sperms into the embryo sac. Because methods for collecting a large amount of in vitro germinated pollen grains for transcriptomics and proteomics studies from model plants of Arabidopsis and rice are not available, molecular information about the germination developmental process is lacking. Here we describe a method for obtaining a large quantity of in vitro germinating rice pollen for proteomics study. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of approximately 2300 protein spots revealed 186 that were differentially expressed in mature and germinated pollen. Most showed a changed level of expression, and only 66 appeared to be specific to developmental stages. Furthermore 160 differentially expressed protein spots were identified on mass spectrometry to match 120 diverse protein species. These proteins involve different cellular and metabolic processes with obvious functional skew toward wall metabolism, protein synthesis and degradation, cytoskeleton dynamics, and carbohydrate/energy metabolism. Wall metabolism-related proteins are prominently featured in the differentially expressed proteins and the pollen proteome as compared with rice sporophytic proteomes. Our study also revealed multiple isoforms and differential expression patterns between isoforms of a protein. These results provide novel insights into pollen function specialization.

MUBs, a family of ubiquitin-fold proteins that are plasma membrane-anchored by prenylation

Ubiquitin (Ub)-fold proteins are rapidly emerging as an important class of eukaryotic modifiers, which often exert their influence by post-translational addition to other intracellular proteins. Despite assuming a common beta-grasp three-dimensional structure, their functions are highly diverse because of distinct surface features and targets and include tagging proteins for selective breakdown, nuclear import, autophagic recycling, vesicular trafficking, polarized morphogenesis, and the stress response. Here we describe a novel family of Membrane-anchored Ub-fold (MUB) proteins that are present in animals, filamentous fungi, and plants. Extending from the C terminus of the Ub-fold is typically a cysteine-containing CAAX (where A indicates aliphatic amino acid) sequence that can direct the attachment of either a 15-carbon farnesyl or a 20-carbon geranylgeranyl moiety in vitro. Modified forms of several MUBs were detected in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting that these MUBs are prenylated in vivo. Both cell fractionation and confocal microscopic analyses of Arabidopsis plants expressing GFP-MUB fusions showed that the modified forms are membrane-anchored with a significant enrichment on the plasma membrane. This plasma membrane location was blocked in vivo in prenyltransferase mutants and by mevinolin, which inhibits the synthesis of prenyl groups. In addition to the five MUBs with CAAX boxes, Arabidopsis has one MUB variant with a cysteine-rich C terminus distinct from the CAAX box that is also membrane-anchored, possibly through the attachment of a long chain acyl group. Although the physiological role(s) of MUBs remain unknown, the discovery of these prenylated forms further expands the diversity and potential functions of Ub-fold proteins in eukaryotic biology.

Ubiquitin-like protein 5 positively regulates chaperone gene expression in the mitochondrial unfolded protein response

Perturbation of the protein-folding environment in the mitochondrial matrix selectively upregulates the expression of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial chaperones. To identify components of the signal transduction pathway(s) mediating this mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR(mt)), we first isolated a temperature-sensitive mutation (zc32) that conditionally activates the UPR(mt) in C. elegans and subsequently searched for suppressors by systematic inactivation of genes. RNAi of ubl-5, a gene encoding a ubiquitin-like protein, suppresses activation of the UPR(mt) markers hsp-60::gfp and hsp-6::gfp by the zc32 mutation and by other manipulations that promote mitochondrial protein misfolding. ubl-5 (RNAi) inhibits the induction of endogenous mitochondrial chaperone encoding genes hsp-60 and hsp-6 and compromises the ability of animals to cope with mitochondrial stress. Mitochondrial morphology and assembly of multi-subunit mitochondrial complexes of biotinylated proteins are also perturbed in ubl-5(RNAi) worms, indicating that UBL-5 also counteracts physiological levels of mitochondrial stress. Induction of mitochondrial stress promotes accumulation of GFP-tagged UBL-5 in nuclei of transgenic worms, suggesting that UBL-5 effects a nuclear step required for mounting a response to the threat of mitochondrial protein misfolding.

Pleiotropic effects of ATP.Mg2+ binding in the catalytic cycle of ubiquitin-activating enzyme

Conjugation of ubiquitin and other Class 1 ubiquitin-like polypeptides to specific protein targets serves diverse regulatory functions in eukaryotes. The obligatory first step of conjugation requires ATP-coupled activation of the ubiquitin-like protein by members of a superfamily of evolutionarily related enzymes. Kinetic and equilibrium studies of the human ubiquitin-activating enzyme (HsUba1a) reveal that mutations within the ATP.Mg(2+) binding site have remarkably pleiotropic effects on the catalytic phenotype of the enzyme. Mutation of Asp(576) or Lys(528) results in dramatically impaired binding affinities for ATP.Mg(2+), a shift from ordered to random addition in co-substrate binding, and a significantly reduced rate of ternary complex formation that shifts the rate-limiting step to ubiquitin adenylate formation. Mutations at neither position affect the affinity of HsUbc2b binding; however, differences in k(cat) values determined from ternary complex formation versus HsUbc2b transthiolation suggest that binding of the E2 enhances the rate of bound ubiquitin adenylate formation. These results confirm that Asp(576) and Lys(528) are important for ATP.Mg(2+) binding but are essential catalytic groups for ubiquitin adenylate transition state stabilization. The latter mechanistic effect explicates the observed loss-of-function phenotype associated with mutation of residues paralogous to Asp(576) within the activating enzymes for other ubiquitin-like proteins.

Putting proteomics on target: activity-based profiling of ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like processing enzymes

Modification of proteins with ubiquitin (Ub) and Ub-like modifiers (Ubls) plays a fundamental role in cell biology. As a consequence, proteomics-based efforts were developed to characterize proteins that are modified by Ub or Ubls. A more focused functional proteomics strategy relies on active-site probes based on the Ub/Ubl scaffold, which specifically targets Ub/Ubl-processing enzymes. Activity-based profiling with such tools led to the identification of novel gene products with Ub/Ubl-processing activity and uncovered novel control mechanisms regulating their activity. This review discusses recent advances in chemistry-based functional proteomics applications, and how this information can provide a framework for drug development against Ub/Ubl-processing enzymes.

Mdy2, a ubiquitin-like (UBL)-domain protein, is required for efficient mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

MDY2, a gene required for efficient mating of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was characterized in this study. The gene encodes a protein of 212 amino acids, which contains a ubiquitin-like (UBL) domain (residues 74-149). Deletion of MDY2 is associated with a five- to sevenfold reduction in mating efficiency, mainly due to defects in nuclear migration and karyogamy at the prezygotic stage. However, prior to mating pair fusion, shmoo formation is reduced by 30%, with a concomitant failure to form mating pairs. Strikingly, migration of the nucleus into the shmoo tip is also delayed or fails to occur. In addition, we show that in mdy2 mutants, microtubule bundles, as well as the microtubule end-binding protein Kar9, fail to localize properly to the shmoo tip, suggesting that the nuclear migration defect could be due to aberrant localization of Kar9. Pheromone signal transduction (as measured by FUS1 induction by α-factor) is not affected in mdy2Δ mutants and mitosis is also normal in these cells. MDY2 is not induced by mating pheromone. In vegetatively growing cells, GFP-Mdy2 is localized in the nucleus, and remains nuclear after exposure of cells to α-factor. His-tagged Mdy2 shows no evidence of the C-terminal processing typical of ubiquitin, and also localizes to the nucleus. Thus MDY2 is a novel gene, whose product plays a role in shmoo formation and in nuclear migration in the pre-zygote, possibly by interacting with other UBL-type proteins that possess ubiquitin association (UBA) domains.

Nep1, a Schizosaccharomyces pombe deneddylating enzyme

Nedd8 is a ubiquitin-like modifier that is attached to the cullin components of E3 ubiquitin ligases. More recently, p53 has also been shown to be Nedd8-modified. Nedd8 attachment occurs in a manner similar to that observed for other ubiquitin-like modifiers. In the present study, we report on the characterization of Nep1, a deneddylating enzyme in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). Unlike loss of ned8, deletion of the nep1 gene is not lethal, although nep1.d cells are heterogeneous in length, suggesting a defect in cell-cycle progression. Viability of nep1.d cells is dependent on a functional spindle checkpoint but not on the DNA integrity checkpoint. Deletion of a related gene (nep2), either alone or in combination with nep1.d, also has little effect on cell viability. We show that Nep1 can deneddylate the Pcu1, Pcu3 and Pcu4 cullins in vitro and that its activity is sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide, consistent with the idea that it is a member of the cysteine protease family. nep1.d cells accumulate Nedd8-modified proteins, although these do not correspond to modified forms of the cullins, suggesting that, although Nep1 can deneddylate cullins in vitro, this is not its main function in vivo. Nep1 can be co-precipitated with the signalosome subunit Csn5. Nep1 itself is present in a high-molecular-mass complex, but the presence of this complex is not dependent on the production of intact signalosomes. Our results suggest that, in vivo, Nep1 may be responsible for deneddylating proteins other than cullins.

Crystal structure of the ubiquitin-like protein YukD from Bacillus subtilis

The YukD protein in Bacillus subtilis was identified in a hidden Markov model (HMM) search as being related in sequence to ubiquitin. By solving the crystal structure we show that YukD adopts a fold that is most closely related to ubiquitin, yet has the shortest C-terminal tail of all known ubiquitin-like proteins. The endogenous gene of yukD in B. subtilis was disrupted without an obvious phenotypic effect and an inducible copy encoding a C-Myc and His-tagged version of the protein was introduced at the ectopic locus amyE. Conjugation assays performed both in vitro and in vivo indicate that YukD lacks the capacity for covalent bond formation with other proteins.

Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins as multifunctional signals

Protein ubiquitylation is a recognized signal for protein degradation. However, it is increasingly realized that ubiquitin conjugation to proteins can be used for many other purposes. Furthermore, there are many ubiquitin-like proteins that control the activities of proteins. The central structural element of these post-translational modifications is the ubiquitin superfold. A common ancestor based on this superfold has evolved to give various proteins that are involved in diverse activities in the cell.

Post-translational regulation in plants employing a diverse set of polypeptide tags

The concept that plants exploit polypeptides as post-translational modifiers is rapidly emerging as an important method to manipulate various cellular processes. The best known is Ub (ubiquitin) that serves as reusable tag for selective protein degradation by the 26 S proteasome and for endosomal trafficking. Genomic analyses indicate that Ub pathway alone comprises over 6% of the Arabidopsis proteome with thousands of proteins being targets. Consequently, this pathway influences much of plant biology. Others tags include RUB-1 (related to Ub-1; also known as NEDD8), SUMO (small Ub-like modifier), ATG-8 (autophagy-8) and ATG-12, UFM-1 (Ub-fold modifier-1) and HUB-1 (homology to Ub-1). Preliminary studies indicate that these tags have much more limited sets of targets and provide more specialized functions, including transcriptional regulation, protein localization, autophagic turnover and antagonizing the effects of Ub. On the basis of their widespread distribution and pervasive functions, peptide tags can now be considered as prime players in plant cell regulation.

Ubiquitin-like protein Hub1 is required for pre-mRNA splicing and localization of an essential splicing factor in fission yeast

Hub1/Ubl5 is a member of the family of ubiquitin-like proteins (UBLs). The tertiary structure of Hub1 is similar to that of ubiquitin; however, it differs from known modifiers in that there is no conserved glycine residue near the C terminus which, in ubiquitin and UBLs, is required for covalent modification of target proteins. Instead, there is a conserved dityrosine motif proximal to the terminal nonconserved amino acid. In S. cerevisiae, high molecular weight adducts can be formed in vivo from Hub1, but the structure of these adducts is not known, and they could be either covalent or noncovalent. The budding yeast HUB1 gene is not essential, but Delta hub1 mutants display defects in mating. Here, we report that fission yeast hub1 is an essential gene, whose loss results in cell cycle defects and inefficient pre-mRNA splicing. A screen for Hub1 interactors identified Snu66, a component of the U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP splicing complex. Furthermore, overexpression of Snu66 suppresses the lethality of a hub1ts mutant. In cells lacking functional hub1, the nuclear localization of Snu66 is disrupted, suggesting that an important role for Hub1 is the correct subcellular targeting of Snu66, although our data suggest that Hub1 is likely to perform other roles in splicing as well.

Ubiquitin: structures, functions, mechanisms

Ubiquitin is the founding member of a family of structurally conserved proteins that regulate a host of processes in eukaryotic cells. Ubiquitin and its relatives carry out their functions through covalent attachment to other cellular proteins, thereby changing the stability, localization, or activity of the target protein. This article reviews the basic biochemistry of these protein conjugation reactions, focusing on ubiquitin itself and emphasizing recent insights into mechanism and specificity.

Identification of sumoylated proteins by systematic immunoprecipitation of the budding yeast proteome

The identification of post-translational modifications to proteins is critical for understanding many important aspects of biology. Utilizing a collection of epitope-tagged yeast strains, we developed a novel approach to determine which proteins are modified by the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO). We crossed traits useful for the detection of SUMO conjugation into 4246 tandem affinity purification-tagged strains and successfully immunoprecipitated and screened 2893 of these proteins for association with SUMO ( approximately 70% of the expressed proteome detectable by immunoblot analysis). We found 82 proteins associated with SUMO, including many of low abundance. Because our screen was performed under non-denaturing conditions, we were able to identify multiple members of four complexes that were associated with SUMO: the RSC chromatin remodeling complex, the mediator complex, the TFIID complex, and the septin complex. In addition, we describe five new direct conjugates of SUMO, and we mutated SUMO conjugation sites in four proteins. This is the first attempt to immunoprecipitate a large fraction of the proteome of a eukaryote, and it demonstrates the utility of this method to identify post-translational modifications in the yeast proteome.

Hub1 is an essential ubiquitin-like protein without functioning as a typical modifier in fission yeast

Hub1 exhibits 23% sequence identity to ubiquitin. However, Hub1 lacks the C-terminal Gly, which is essential for covalent attachment to target protein(s) of ubiquitin and other ubiquitin-like (UBL) modifiers. Instead, Hub1 proteins in all eukaryotes retain the di-Tyr just before a single variable residue at the C-terminus, so one intriguing question is whether Hub1 could be linked to substrate through the conserved Tyr or not. Here we studied Hub1 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Gene disruption experiment revealed that hub1+ is essential. Remarkably, the mutant cells harbouring Hub1 lacking the di-Tyr could grow similar to wild-type cells, indicating that the di-Tyr is dispensable for the essential function of Hub1. Moreover, we could not observe cleavage of Flag-tag fused with C-terminus of Hub1. It suggests that the processing for conjugation via conserved Tyr is not likely to occur in Hub1, and Hub1 is a novel class of the UBL protein family. Finally, we isolated a temperature-sensitive allele, hub1-1. This temperature sensitivity could be suppressed by overproduction of Rpb10 or Snu66, the former of which is one of the common subunits of the RNA polymerases and the other is the component of the spliceosome. We also observed that pre-mRNA splicing was impaired in hub1-1.

Integral UBL domain proteins: a family of proteasome interacting proteins

The family of ubiquitin-like (UBL) domain proteins (UDPs) comprises a conserved group of proteins involved in a multitude of different cellular activities. However, recent studies on UBL-domain proteins indicate that these proteins appear to share a common property in their ability to interact with 26S proteasomes. The 26S proteasome is a multisubunit protease which is responsible for the majority of intracellular proteolysis in eukaryotic cells. Before degradation commences most proteins are first marked for destruction by being coupled to a chain of ubiquitin molecules. Some UBL-domain proteins catalyse the formation of ubiquitin-protein conjugates, whereas others appear to target ubiquitinated proteins for degradation and interact with chaperones. Hence, by binding to the 26S proteasome the UBL-domain proteins seem to tailor and direct the basic proteolytic functions of the particle to accommodate various cellular substrates.

Genomic analysis of stationary-phase and exit in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: gene expression and identification of novel essential genes

Most cells on earth exist in a quiescent state. In yeast, quiescence is induced by carbon starvation, and exit occurs when a carbon source becomes available. To understand how cells survive in, and exit from this state, mRNA abundance was examined using oligonucleotide-based microarrays and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Cells in stationary-phase cultures exhibited a coordinated response within 5-10 min of refeeding. Levels of >1800 mRNAs increased dramatically (>or=64-fold), and a smaller group of stationary-phase mRNAs decreased in abundance. Motif analysis of sequences upstream of genes clustered by VxInsight identified an overrepresentation of Rap1p and BUF (RPA) binding sites in genes whose mRNA levels rapidly increased during exit. Examination of 95 strains carrying deletions in stationary-phase genes induced identified 32 genes essential for survival in stationary-phase at 37 degrees C. Analysis of these genes suggests that mitochondrial function is critical for entry into stationary-phase and that posttranslational modifications and protection from oxidative stress become important later. The phylogenetic conservation of stationary-phase genes, and our findings that two-thirds of the essential stationary-phase genes have human homologues and of these, many have human homologues that are disease related, demonstrate that yeast is a bona fide model system for studying the quiescent state of eukaryotic cells.