ubiquitin-chain-analysis-by-parallel-reaction-monitoring

Ubiquitin Chain Analysis by Parallel Reaction Monitoring

Assessment of the global profile of ubiquitin chain topologies within a proteome is of interest to answer a wide range of biological questions. The ...

Luxembourg Institute of Health

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain. Insights into protein quality control mechanisms to prevent neuronal dysfunction and cell death are crucial in developing causal therapies. Here, we report that various disease-associated protein aggregates are modified by the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC). HOIP, the catalytic component of LUBAC, is recruited to misfolded Huntingtin in a p97/VCP-dependent manner, resulting in the assembly of linear polyubiquitin. As a consequence, the interactive surface of misfolded Huntingtin species is shielded from unwanted interactions, for example with the low complexity sequence domain-containing transcription factor Sp1, and proteasomal degradation of misfolded Huntingtin is facilitated. Notably, all three core LUBAC components are transcriptionally regulated by Sp1, linking defective LUBAC expression to Huntington's disease. In support of a protective activity of linear ubiquitination, silencing of OTULIN, a deubiquitinase with unique specificity for linear polyubiquitin, decreases proteotoxicity, whereas silencing of HOIP has the opposite effect. These findings identify linear ubiquitination as a protein quality control mechanism and hence a novel target for disease-modifying strategies in proteinopathies.

A protein quality control pathway regulated by linear ubiquitination.

Protein homeostasis is essential for the survival of cells. It is closely related to the functioning of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, which utilizes the small protein ubiquitin as a posttranslational modifier (PTM). Clinically, the modification is of great importance as its disruption is the cause of many diseases. Unlike other PTMs, ubiquitin can encode several cellular signals by being attached as a single molecule or as a chain of several ubiquitins in various conformations. Thus, ubiquitin signaling is dependent not only on the site of attachment but also on the chain type, the so-called ubiquitin chain topology.The most reliable quantification method for the chain topology uses a bottom-up targeted mass spectrometry-based proteomics technique. While similar to other targeted proteomics techniques, the measurement of ubiquitination chain topology is complicated. First, the ubiquitin chains in the sample have to be biochemically stabilized. Second, the selection of peptides for the analysis is restricted to a given set harboring the PTMs and does not allow for optimization for amenability to mass spectrometry-based quantification. Instead, the topology-characteristic peptides are fixed. We here present such a methodology, including notes for a successful application.

Article	Year
A protein quality control pathway regulated by linear ubiquitination. The EMBO journal\| PubMed ID: 30886048	2019
Assessment of Ubiquitin Chain Topology by Targeted Mass Spectrometry. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)\| PubMed ID: 30980320	2019

Joseph Longworth

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