Degradation of Serotonin <i>N</i>-Acetyltransferase, a Circadian Regulator, by the N-end Rule Pathway

Wadas, Brandon,Borjigin, Jimo,Huang, Zheping,Oh, Jang-Hyun,Hwang, Cheol-Sang,Varshavsky, Alexander American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Bi 2016 The Journal of biological chemistry Vol.291 No.33

<P>Serotonin N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) converts serotonin to N-acetylserotonin (NAS), a distinct biological regulator and the immediate precursor of melatonin, a circulating hormone that influences circadian processes, including sleep. N-terminal sequences of AANAT enzymes vary among vertebrates. Mechanisms that regulate the levels of AANAT are incompletely understood. Previous findings were consistent with the possibility that AANAT may be controlled through its degradation by the N-end rule pathway. By expressing the rat and human AANATs and their mutants not only in mammalian cells but also in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and by taking advantage of yeast genetics, we show here that two complementary forms of rat AANAT are targeted for degradation by two complementary branches of the N-end rule pathway. Specifically, the N-terminally acetylated (Nt-acetylated) Ac-AANAT is destroyed through the recognition of its Nt-acetylated N-terminal Met residue by the Ac/N-end rule pathway, whereas the non-Nt-acetylated AANAT is targeted by the Arg/N-end rule pathway, which recognizes the unacetylated N-terminal Met-Leu sequence of rat AANAT. We also show, by constructing lysine-to-arginine mutants of rat AANAT, that its degradation is mediated by polyubiquitylation of its Lys residue(s). Human AANAT, whose N-terminal sequence differs from that of rodent AANATs, is longer-lived than its rat counterpart and appears to be refractory to degradation by the N-end rule pathway. Together, these and related results indicate both a major involvement of the N-end rule pathway in the control of rodent AANATs and substantial differences in the regulation of rodent and human AANATs that stem from differences in their N-terminal sequences.</P>

Formyl-methionine as an N-degron of a eukaryotic N-end rule pathway

Kim, Jeong-Mok,Seok, Ok-Hee,Ju, Shinyeong,Heo, Ji-Eun,Yeom, Jeonghun,Kim, Da-Som,Yoo, Joo-Yeon,Varshavsky, Alexander,Lee, Cheolju,Hwang, Cheol-Sang American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2018 Science Vol.362 No.6418

<P><B>Another N-end rule to add</B></P><P>Proteins that emerge from a ribosome bear the N-terminal methionine (Met) residue. In bacteria, Met is formylated before translation starts, whereas in eukaryotes, most nascent proteins seemed to start with unmodified Met. Working in yeast, Kim <I>et al.</I> found that the N-terminal formylation of eukaryotic proteins is detectable even under normal conditions and is greatly increased upon specific stresses, which cause some Fmt1 formyltransferase to be retained in the cytoplasm. The retention of this normally mitochondrial protein was found to require the Gcn2 kinase. In addition, the Psh1 ubiquitin ligase was shown to target N-terminally formylated eukaryotic proteins for proteasome-dependent degradation by the so-called fMet/N-end rule pathway.</P><P><I>Science</I>, this issue p. eaat0174</P><P>In bacteria, nascent proteins bear the pretranslationally generated N-terminal (Nt) formyl-methionine (fMet) residue. Nt-fMet of bacterial proteins is a degradation signal, termed fMet/N-degron. By contrast, proteins synthesized by cytosolic ribosomes of eukaryotes were presumed to bear unformylated Nt-Met. Here we found that the yeast formyltransferase Fmt1, although imported into mitochondria, could also produce Nt-formylated proteins in the cytosol. Nt-formylated proteins were strongly up-regulated in stationary phase or upon starvation for specific amino acids. This up-regulation strictly required the Gcn2 kinase, which phosphorylates Fmt1 and mediates its retention in the cytosol. We also found that the Nt-fMet residues of Nt-formylated proteins act as fMet/N-degrons and identified the Psh1 ubiquitin ligase as the recognition component of the eukaryotic fMet/N-end rule pathway, which destroys Nt-formylated proteins.</P>

Control of mammalian G protein signaling by N-terminal acetylation and the N-end rule pathway

Park, Sang-Eun,Kim, Jeong-Mok,Seok, Ok-Hee,Cho, Hanna,Wadas, Brandon,Kim, Seon-Young,Varshavsky, Alexander,Hwang, Cheol-Sang American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2015 Science Vol.347 No.6227

<P><B>The N-end rule finds a physiological function</B></P><P>The N-end–rule pathway for protein degradation is a canonical degradation pathway discovered in the 1980s. In recent years, studies have focused on finding novel variant pathways of N-end recognition. The “classical” pathway is blocked by N-terminal acetylation of the substrate. However, in yeast, N-terminal acetylation need not block degradation, because a second pathway can act on acetylated N-termini. But is this alternate pathway a major player in the physiology of mammals? Park <I>et al.</I> now confirm the existence of the alternate pathway in mammalian cells. Most notably, patient-derived point mutations thought to confer hypertension in humans affect susceptibility to this pathway for the encoded protein substrate, Rgs2.</P><P><I>Science</I>, this issue p. 1249</P><P>Rgs2, a regulator of G proteins, lowers blood pressure by decreasing signaling through Gα<SUB>q</SUB>. Human patients expressing Met-Leu-Rgs2 (ML-Rgs2) or Met-Arg-Rgs2 (MR-Rgs2) are hypertensive relative to people expressing wild-type Met-Gln-Rgs2 (MQ-Rgs2). We found that wild-type MQ-Rgs2 and its mutant, MR-Rgs2, were destroyed by the Ac/N-end rule pathway, which recognizes N<SUP>α</SUP>-terminally acetylated (Nt-acetylated) proteins. The shortest-lived mutant, ML-Rgs2, was targeted by both the Ac/N-end rule and Arg/N-end rule pathways. The latter pathway recognizes unacetylated N-terminal residues. Thus, the Nt-acetylated Ac-MX-Rgs2 (X = Arg, Gln, Leu) proteins are specific substrates of the mammalian Ac/N-end rule pathway. Furthermore, the Ac/N-degron of Ac-MQ-Rgs2 was conditional, and Teb4, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane-embedded ubiquitin ligase, was able to regulate G protein signaling by targeting Ac-MX-Rgs2 proteins for degradation through their N<SUP>α</SUP>-terminal acetyl group.</P>

Aminoacyl-transferases and the N-end rule pathway of prokaryotic/eukaryotic specificity in a human pathogen

Graciet, E.,Hu, R.-G.,Piatkov, K.,Rhee, J. H.,Schwarz, E. M.,Varshavsky, A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2006 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF Vol.103 No.9

<P>The N-end rule relates the in vivo half-life of a protein to the identity of its N-terminal residue. Primary destabilizing N-terminal residues (Nd(p)) are recognized directly by the targeting machinery. The recognition of secondary destabilizing N-terminal residues (Nd(s)) is preceded by conjugation of an Nd(p) residue to Nd(s) of a polypeptide substrate. In eukaryotes, ATE1-encoded arginyl-transferases (R(D,E,C*)-transferases) conjugate Arg (R), an Nd(p) residue, to Nd(s) residues Asp (D), Glu (E), or oxidized Cys residue (C*). Ubiquitin ligases recognize the N-terminal Arg of a substrate and target the (ubiquitylated) substrate to the proteasome. In prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli, Nd(p) residues Leu (L) or Phe (F) are conjugated, by the aat-encoded Leu/Phe-transferase (L/F(K,R)-transferase), to N-terminal Arg or Lys, which are Nd(s) in prokaryotes but Nd(p) in eukaryotes. In prokaryotes, substrates bearing the Nd(p) residues Leu, Phe, Trp, or Tyr are degraded by the proteasome-like ClpAP protease. Despite enzymological similarities between eukaryotic R(D,E,C*)-transferases and prokaryotic L/F(K,R)-transferases, there is no significant sequelogy (sequence similarity) between them. We identified an aminoacyl-transferase, termed Bpt, in the human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus. Although it is a sequelog of eukaryotic R(D,E,C*)-transferases, this prokaryotic transferase exhibits a 'hybrid' specificity, conjugating Nd(p) Leu to Nd(s) Asp or Glu. Another aminoacyl-transferase, termed ATEL1, of the eukaryotic pathogen Plasmodium falciparum, is a sequelog of prokaryotic L/F(K,R)-transferases (Aat), but has the specificity of eukaryotic R(D,E,C*)-transferases (ATE1). Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the substrate specificity of R-transferases arose by two distinct routes during the evolution of eukaryotes.</P>