Targeted protein degradation: from small molecules to complex organelles-a Keystone Symposia report

Targeted protein degradation is critical for proper cellular function and development. Protein degradation pathways, such as the ubiquitin proteasomes system, autophagy, and endosome-lysosome pathway, must be tightly regulated to ensure proper elimination of misfolded and aggregated proteins and regulate changing protein levels during cellular differentiation, while ensuring that normal proteins remain unscathed. Protein degradation pathways have also garnered interest as a means to selectively eliminate target proteins that may be difficult to inhibit via other mechanisms. On June 7 and 8, 2021, several experts in protein degradation pathways met virtually for the Keystone eSymposium "Targeting protein degradation: from small molecules to complex organelles." The event brought together researchers working in different protein degradation pathways in an effort to begin to develop a holistic, integrated vision of protein degradation that incorporates all the major pathways to understand how changes in them can lead to disease pathology and, alternatively, how they can be leveraged for novel therapeutics.

Highly Multiplexed Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Ubiquitylomes

System-wide quantitative analysis of ubiquitylomes has proven to be a valuable tool for elucidating targets and mechanisms of the ubiquitin-driven signaling systems, as well as gaining insights into neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Current mass spectrometry methods for ubiquitylome detection require large amounts of starting material and rely on stochastic data collection to increase replicate analyses. We describe a method compatible with cell line and tissue samples for large-scale quantification of 5,000-9,000 ubiquitylation forms across ten samples simultaneously. Using this method, we reveal site-specific ubiquitylation in mammalian brain and liver tissues, as well as in cancer cells undergoing proteasome inhibition. To demonstrate the power of the approach for signal-dependent ubiquitylation, we examined protein and ubiquitylation dynamics for mitochondria undergoing PARKIN- and PINK1-dependent mitophagy. This analysis revealed the largest collection of PARKIN- and PINK1-dependent ubiquitylation targets to date in a single experiment, and it also revealed a subset of proteins recruited to the mitochondria during mitophagy.

Multiplexed, Proteome-Wide Protein Expression Profiling: Yeast Deubiquitylating Enzyme Knockout Strains

Characterizing a protein's function often requires a description of the cellular state in its absence. Multiplexing in mass spectrometry-based proteomics has now achieved the ability to globally measure protein expression levels in yeast from 10 cell states simultaneously. We applied this approach to quantify expression differences in wild type and nine deubiquitylating enzyme (DUB) knockout strains with the goal of creating "information networks" that might provide deeper, mechanistic insights into a protein's biological role. In total, more than 3700 proteins were quantified with high reproducibility across three biological replicates (30 samples in all). DUB mutants demonstrated different proteomics profiles, consistent with distinct roles for each family member. These included differences in total ubiquitin levels and specific chain linkages. Moreover, specific expression changes suggested novel functions for several DUB family members. For instance, the ubp3Δ mutant showed large expression changes for members of the cytochrome C oxidase complex, consistent with a role for Ubp3 in mitochondrial regulation. Several DUBs also showed broad expression changes for phosphate transporters as well as other components of the inorganic phosphate signaling pathway, suggesting a role for these DUBs in regulating phosphate metabolism. These data highlight the potential of multiplexed proteome-wide analyses for biological investigation and provide a framework for further study of the DUB family. Our methods are readily applicable to the entire collection of yeast deletion mutants and may help facilitate systematic analysis of yeast and other organisms.