Project description:All eukaryotes require intricate protein networks to translate developmental signals into accurate cell fate decisions. Mutations that disturb interactions between network components often result in disease, but how composition and dynamics of complex networks are established remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the E3 ligase UBR5 as a signaling hub that helps degrade unpaired subunits of multiple transcriptional regulators that act within a network centered on the c-MYC oncoprotein. Biochemical and structural analyses show that UBR5 binds motifs that only become available upon complex dissociation. By rapidly turning over orphan transcription factor subunits, UBR5 establishes dynamic interactions between transcriptional regulators that allow cells to effectively execute gene expression, while remaining receptive to environmental signals. We conclude that orphan quality control plays an essential role in establishing dynamic protein networks, which may explain the conserved need for protein degradation during transcription and offers unique opportunities to modulate gene expression in disease.
Project description:All eukaryotes require intricate protein networks to translate developmental signals into accurate cell fate decisions. Mutations that disturb interactions between network components often result in disease, but how composition and dynamics of complex networks are established remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the E3 ligase UBR5 as a signaling hub that helps degrade unpaired subunits of multiple transcriptional regulators that act within a network centered on the c-MYC oncoprotein. Biochemical and structural analyses show that UBR5 binds motifs that only become available upon complex dissociation. By rapidly turning over orphan transcription factor subunits, UBR5 establishes dynamic interactions between transcriptional regulators that allow cells to effectively execute gene expression, while remaining receptive to environmental signals. We conclude that orphan quality control plays an essential role in establishing dynamic protein networks, which may explain the conserved need for protein degradation during transcription and offers unique opportunities to modulate gene expression in disease. Crosslinking mass spec experiment with UBR5 HECT domain STREP-SUMO-MCRS1 and DSSO.
Project description:Cells contain numerous abundant molecular machines assembled from multiple subunits. Imbalances in subunit production and failed assembly generate orphan subunits that are eliminated by poorly defined pathways. Here, we determined how orphan subunits of the cytosolic chaperonin CCT are recognized. Several unassembled CCT subunits recruited the E3 ubiquitin ligase HERC2 using ZNRD2 as an adaptor. Both factors were necessary for orphan CCT subunit degradation in cells, sufficient for CCT subunit ubiquitination with purified factors, and necessary for optimal cell fitness. Domain mapping and structure prediction defined the molecular features of a minimal HERC2-ZNRD2-CCT module. The structural model, whose key elements were validated in cells using point mutants, shows why ZNRD2 selectively recognizes multiple orphaned CCT subunits without engaging assembled CCT. Our findings reveal how failures during CCT assembly are monitored and provide a paradigm for the molecular recognition of orphan subunits, the largest source of quality control substrates in cells.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE39108: UNG shapes the specifity of AID-induced somatic hypermutation in non B cells GSE39114: UNG shapes the specifity of AID-induced somatic hypermutation in B cells Refer to individual Series
Project description:Buffering of deleterious mutations by molecular chaperones and degradation of aberrant proteins by quality control systems are both major factors that can impact the mutational landscape available to a client protein. The impacts of the proteostasis network on protein evolution are not limited to just endogenous clients, but can also shape the mutational landscapes accessible to rapidly evolving viral proteins. Here, we test the hypothesis that the composition of the host cell’s endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteostasis network shapes the evolution of RNA viruses by focusing on human immunodeficiency virus-1 envelope (Env), a membrane glycoprotein that folds and matures in the host cell’s secretory pathway. We apply chemical genetic methods to activate the IRE1-XBP1s and/or the ATF6 transcriptional arms of the unfolded protein response in a stress-independent manner. We then quantitatively assess the impact of the resulting altered host cell ER proteostasis environments on the relative enrichment of all Env single amino acid substitutions using deep mutational scanning. We find that upregulation of host ER proteostasis factors globally reduces the mutational tolerance of HIV-1 Env, particularly upon induction of the IRE1-XBP1s transcriptional arm of the UPR. The effects of ATF6 activation are less global, but still significant at particular Env sites. The impact of the XBP1s-induced ER proteostasis environment is disparate for diverse structural elements of Env. Conserved, functionally important regions generally exhibit the largest decreases in mutational tolerance upon XBP1s activation. In contrast, specific regions of Env, including regions targeted by broadly neutralizing antibodies, display greatly enhanced mutational tolerance when XBP1s is activated. Altogether, these data reveal a new set of host factors that specifically shape the mutational space accessible to HIV Env and, more generally, provide compelling evidence that UPR-regulated proteostasis mechanisms play critical roles in membrane protein evolution.