The MDM2 protein regulates the tumour suppressor protein p53, acting as its chaperone, regulating its translation and targeting p53 for degradation by the 26s proteasome via its E3 ligase activity. The E3 ligase activity of MDM2 is dependent on its C-terminal RING domain. E3 ligases containing a RING domain are traditionally thought to catalyse the transfer of ubiquitin from their conjugating enzyme (E2) partner to the target protein, in the final step of the ubiquitination cascade. Various E2 enzymes have been shown to interact with their partner E3 ligases, yet evidence for the interaction between MDM2 and its partner E2, UbcH5α has not yet been shown. It has been reported that the reason for this lack of evidence is that the interaction between the two is highly unstable. Here I show that MDM2 forms a stable isolatable interaction with UbcH5α, the C-terminal tail of MDM2 is not necessary for this interaction. Although RING E3 ligases were not previously thought to interact with ubiquitin, preliminary evidence is emerging that suggests that this interaction is possible indeed I show that MDM2 and ubiquitin form a stable complex. I demonstrate that UbcH5α and ubiquitin both interact with the RING of MDM2, specifically the 20 most C-terminal amino acids of MDM2. My results show that both these proteins can bind this region of the RING simultaneously. I also highlight specific residues including tyrosine 489 and arginine 479 important for UbcH5α and ubiquitin binding respectively and the negative affect that these mutations have on the E3 ligase activity of MDM2 towards p53. Furthermore I show by limited proteolysis and hydrogen deuterium exchange that UbcH5α can be allosterically activated by MDM2. A novel peptide phage display technique linked to next generation sequencing was developed to further confirm an allosteric change and demonstrates that UbcH5α has different binding specificity for peptides when in a free or ligand bound conformation. MDM2 is a popular target for cancer therapeutics due to its dysregulation throughout many cancer types, including 30% of soft tissue sarcomas. Dissecting the mechanism of MDM2 function is an important step in identifying specific drugable interfaces on MDM2 and its interacting partners so that effective therapeutics can be designed.

xi, 81 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Post-translational modification of proteins is an important cellular method of controlling various aspects of protein activity, including protein-protein interactions, half- life, and transport. An important class of post-translational modifications involves the ubiquitin family of proteins. In these modifications, a small protein, such as ubiquitin, is conjugated to a target protein through an isopeptide bond. Conjugation by a ubiquitin family member acts as a signal to regulate the activity, function, or stability of the target protein. Urm1, a ubiquitin-like protein conserved throughout all eukaryotes, was initially identified in S. cerevisiae. Loss of Urm1 leads to the disruption of a variety of cellular processes, including oxidative stress response, filamentous growth, and temperature sensitivity. This body of work comprises efforts to identify novel targets of Urm1, the mechanism by which Urm1 is attached to target proteins, and the physiological consequences of such conjugation. To gain understanding of the function and mechanism of Urm1 conjugation, the only known conjugate of Urm1, the peroxiredoxin reductase Ahp1, was examined in an effort to identify the site of modification on Ahp1 and to evaluate the physiological consequences of urmylation of Ahp1. I then completed a series of screens--a synthetic lethal screen, a two-hybrid screen, and a protein over-expression screen--to identify novel Urm1 conjugates and cellular functions dependent on Urm1. Of particular interest were genes identified in the synthetic lethal screen, namely PTC1, which encodes a protein phosphatase, and a set of genes encoding the Elongator complex, which functions in transcriptional elongation and tRNA modification. During this time period, other groups showed that thiolation of tRNAs depends on Urm1. Thus, Urm1 does not function only in protein conjugation, but also as a sulfur carrier in the thiolation of tRNA. Interestingly, I identified Elp2, a component of the Elongator complex, as a new Urm1-conjugate. Because Elp2 is also required for tRNA modification, perhaps Urm1 plays more than one role in tRNA modification. Loss of tRNA modification may disrupt many cellular functions and could explain the variety of urm1 mutant phenotypes. I have determined that all known Urm1 dependent processes are also associated with tRNA modification. / Committee in charge: Karen Guillemin, Chairperson, Biology; George Sprague, Advisor, Biology; Alice Barkan, Member, Biology; Kenneth Prehoda, Member, Chemistry; Tom Stevens, Outside Member, Chemistry

Ubiquitin phosphorylation by PINK1 (PTEN-induced Putative Kinase 1) is crucial for mitochondrial quality control and loss or mutation of PINK1 can lead to autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (AR-JP). PINK1 is an unusual kinase, as it is characterised by three unique insertions in its kinase N lobe and a C-terminal region after the kinase domain. Despite great effort, a structure of PINK1 could not be determined and the molecular mechanism of ubiquitin phosphorylation and the effect of the PINK1 AR-JP patient mutations remained elusive. The versatile modifier ubiquitin (Ub) is also an unusual kinase substrate, as its phosphorylation site (Ser65) is not exposed, but protected by the Ub fold. Hence, it was not clear how a kinase would be able to target Ser65 of Ub. This work shows that Ub needs to adopt a previously described conformation in order to be efficiently phosphorylated by PINK1. NMR experiments revealed that in a small population of Ub the last β-strand is retracted, resulting in a more accessible Ser65 loop. It could be shown that PINK1 binds the Ser65 loop in this C-terminally retracted conformation (Ub-CR), but not in the ‘common’ conformation. In addition, it could be shown that Ub trapped in the Ub-CR conformation by point mutations (Ub TVLN) is phosphorylated significantly faster than Ub wt, which only adopts the Ub-CR conformation at very low frequency. To further elucidate how PINK1 binds and phosphorylates Ub, the kinase domain of Pediculus humanus corporis (Ph)PINK1 was crystallised in complex with Ub TVLN stabilised by a nanobody. The structure revealed many peculiarities of PINK1, such as the architecture of the unique insertions and the C-terminal region. Together with NMR and mass spectrometry studies, the structure explains how PINK1 interacts with ubiquitin via insertion-3 and its activation segment, and how PINK1 utilises the Ub- CR conformation for efficient Ser65 phosphorylation. In addition, the structure shows that two autophosphorylation sites in the N lobe regulate PINK1, by stabilising the functionally important insertions. The structure helped our understanding of the molecular basis of over 40 AR-JP patient mutations and may guide the design of ARJP therapeutics in the future.

Orientadores: Lício Augusto Velloso, Marciane Milanski Ferreira / Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T00:15:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Souza_LeticiaMartinsIgnaciode_D.pdf: 4083691 bytes, checksum: 4627dc93519577a00d2747b36d1a406f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Dentre os fatores ambientais que contribuem para o desenvolvimento de obesidade, o consumo de dietas ricas em ácidos graxos saturados desempenha o papel mais importante. Estudos recentes realizados por vários grupos, inclusive o nosso, revelam que ácidos graxos saturados presentes na dieta levam ao desenvolvimento de resistência hipotalâmica à ação dos hormônios leptina e insulina, fenômeno este fundamental para que ocorra a quebra no equilíbrio entre ingestão e gasto calórico. Até o momento caracterizaram-se dois mecanismos moleculares potencialmente envolvidos na iniciação do processo que resulta na disfunção hipotalâmica na obesidade, a ativação de TLR4 e a indução de estresse de retículo endoplasmático, ambos levando a uma resposta inflamatória local e, eventualmente, a apoptose neuronal. Estudos recentes têm revelado que frente a situações que oferecem risco de dano celular, ativa-se um mecanismo de controle de tráfico e degradação protéica chamado sistema ubiquitina-proteassoma (UPS). O acúmulo de agregados protéicos positivos para ubiquitina pode gerar toxicidade celular e regular a plasticidade neuronal. Também a modulação de componentes do UPS pode gerar neurodegeneração hipotalâmica e fenótipo obeso em animais experimentais. Neste estudo aventamos a hipótese que durante períodos prolongados de obesidade a ativação anômala do UPS contribuiria para a perpetuação do quadro de obesidade. De fato, os resultados obtidos revelam que roedores com predisposição para a obesidade induzida por dieta mantém, a princípio, a capacidade de regular adequadamente a UPS no hipotálamo. Com o passar do tempo esta capacidade é perdida resultando numa maior dificuldade para perda de peso frente à redução do aporte calórico. Roedores com mutações que os protegem da inflamação, não apresentam distúrbio funcional do UPS quando expostos a dieta rica em ácidos graxos e, são também protegidos da obesidade. Portanto, o defeito funcional do UPS no hipotálamo no curso de obesidade prolongada, constitui-se num fator importante contribuindo para a refratariedade ao tratamento e perpetuação da doença / Abstract: The consumption of high-fat diets, especially those rich in saturated fatty acids, plays the most important role in the development of obesity. Recent studies by several groups, including ours, have shown that dietary long-chain saturated fatty acids lead to the development of hypothalamic resistance to leptin and insulin, an important condition contributing for breaking of the balance between caloric intake and energy expenditure. Two molecular mechanisms are currently known to play a triggering role in this process; activation of TLR4 and endoplasmic reticulum stress, both leading to local inflammation and eventually apoptosis of neurons. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) plays an important role in the control of protein recycling in the cell. The accumulation of ubiquitin-positive protein aggregates can cause cell toxicity and regulate neuronal plasticity. Also the modulation or differential activation of UPS can produce hypothalamic neurodegeneration and obese phenotype in experimental animals. Here, we hypothesized that under prolonged diet-induced obesity, a defect in the UPS in the hypothalamus could contribute for the defective control of energy homeostasis leading to the refractoriness of obesity to caloric restriction. In fact in an obesity-prone rodent strain, prolonged, but not short-term obesity was accompanied by functional abnormality of the UPS in the hypothalamus. In mutants protected from inflammation, resistance to diet-induced obesity was accompanied by stability of the UPS in the hypothalamus. Thus, defect of the UPS in the hypothalamus, during prolonged obesity is an important factor contributing the refractoriness of obesity to caloric restriction / Doutorado / Biologia Estrutural, Celular, Molecular e do Desenvolvimento / Doutora em Fisiopatologia Médica

Ubiquitin (Ub) ligases are important regulatory and signalling molecules, which are involved in majority of cellular processes such as differentiation, DNA repair, and regulation of energetic metabolism or immune response. E3 Ubiquitin ligases are also responsible for pathophysiological changes in the organism and their activity is associated with many human diseases including cancers. This makes E3 Ubiquitin ligases to be new diagnostic markers and interesting pharmaceutical targets. Based on previous studies, these enzymes evince very specific expression in the level of tissues or cell populations. Determination of this specific expression is important for a better understanding of their biological function. In this diploma thesis we systematically screened presence of 370 genes of E3-Ub ligases in gastrointestinal tract under physiological conditions and during acute inflammatory damage of distal colon. Obtained data allowed us to select genes, which can play important role in homeostasis as well as pathophysiology and regeneration of gastrointestinal tract. The screening was based on the expression profiling using qPCR, followed by in situ hybridization to determine the exact localization of the gene expression within tissues. From qPCR analysis was predicted hundred thirty seven candidates for...

The USP4 is a deubiquitinating enzyme found elevated in certain human lung and adrenal tumours. USP4 has a very close relative, USP15, which has caused great difficulty in studying only one or the other. We have had generated two antibodies specific to USP4 and USP15, and have confirmed that the two do not cross react. Although there have been previous findings of interacting partners, possible substrates and pathways in which it is involved, the biological role of USP4 is mostly unknown. We have used these antibodies to determine that USP4 and USP15 expression differs across tissue and cell types, and that expression changes as the organism ages. We have shown that USP4 plays a role in canonical Wnt signaling, perhaps by stabilizing Beta-catenin, and identified GRK2 as a kinase, phosphorylating USP4. These data have provided enough information to form a hypothesis, implicating USP4 with the destruction complex in the Wnt signaling pathway.

TRIM7 is a member of the TRIM (tripartite motif-containing) protein superfamily. This family has been implicated in many disorders such as genetic diseases, neurological diseases, and cancers. Little is known about the function of TRIM7 except that it interacts with glycogenin and may regulate glycogen biosynthesis. Recently, a yeast two-hybrid protein-protein interaction screen revealed the binding of TRIM7 to Sin1, a protein found in a complex with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein kinase. mTOR can form two complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, which are important for cell growth, differentiation, and survival. Sin1 is a core component of mTORC2 and is critical for mTORC2 stability and activity. It was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation that TRIM7 associates with Sin1 and mTOR in cultured mammalian cells. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that TRIM7 is a phosphoprotein, although it was not directly targeted by mTOR in vitro. Similar to some other TRIM family proteins, it was demonstrated that TRIM7 has a ubiquitin E3 ligase function allowing it to autoubiquitinate both in vitro and in cells. The autoubiquitination of TRIM7 was dependent on its RING domain. Further characterization of TRIM7 indicated that it can both homo-oligomerise as well as hetero-oligomerise with other members of its sub-class of TRIM proteins and that it co-localises with them into discrete cytoplasmic loci. To determine the cellular function of TRIM7, a stable cell line expressing an shRNA directed against TRIM7 was generated. Successful knock down of TRIM7 was achieved and this led to an increase in the protein levels of components of the mTORC2 complex, including Sin1. This coincided with an increase in cell proliferation. In conclusion, this research identifies a novel role for TRIM7 as a ubiquitin ligase involved in regulating cell proliferation and provides a potential link between TRIM7 and the mTOR pathway, a major transducer of proliferative and cell survival signals.

Leishmania major (L. major) is an intra-macrophage protozoan parasite which differentiates from a promastigote to an amastigote upon transmission from its insect vector at 25°C to its mammalian host at 37°C. This temperature shift occurs in the same range as that used to elicit the heat shock response in prokaryotes and higher eukaryotes in which the induction of genes encoding heat shock proteins is seen. Ubiquitin is a heat inducible protein and one of the most conserved eukaryotic proteins known. Genomic libraries made from major DNA were initially screened with the ubiquitin gene from yeast. DNA sequence analyses of positive clones revealed at least 5 ubiquitin coding elements arranged head to tail without intervening sequences. The predicted protein sequence showed that ubiquitin in Leishmania differs from that of yeast and barley at 5 out of 76 amino acid positions and from that of human at only 2 positions. Further characterization revealed another ubiquitin encoding locus believed to carry only one ubiquitin encoding element. Comparisons of ubiquitin mRNA levels from L. major grown at 26°C, 37°C, and 42°C suggest that ubiquitin gene expression in these particular parasites is constitutive and that prolonged exposure at a non-lethal temperature results in a reduction of ubiquitin-specific mRNA. However, a direct correlation between parasite differentiation and ubiquitin gene expression was not defined as it could not be determined whether the described experimental conditions actually established differentiated states of L. major. / Medicine, Faculty of / Medical Genetics, Department of / Graduate

Le mélanome cutané est un cancer très agressif, responsable de 80% des décès liés aux cancers de la peau. Le mélanome métastatique (MM) est souvent résistant à la radiothérapie et aux chimiothérapies. Sa progression est majoritairement initiée par des mutations oncogéniques des gènes BRAF et NRAS activant la voie de prolifération MEK/ERK. Le MM est difficile à traiter malgré le succès de nouveaux traitements (thérapies ciblant l’oncogène BRAFV600E et immunothérapies), qui sont cependant limités à certains patients. De plus l'émergence de résistances ne permet pas d’obtenir une réponse durable, ce qui incite à rechercher de nouvelles cibles tumorales. Dans les cellules cancéreuses, l’accumulation d’altérations génétiques et le fort index prolifératif accroissent leur addiction aux mécanismes de contrôle de la qualité du protéome, comme le système ubiquitine-protéasome (UPS). L’UPS comprend une machinerie protéolytique (le protéasome 26S) et un réseau d’enzymes régulant l’ubiquitination de protéines cibles. La réaction enzymatique de retrait de l’ubiquitine est la déubiquitination, réalisés par de protéases spécifiques appelées DéUBiquitinases (DUBs). Malgré l’importance des DUBs dans de nombreuses situations pathologiques comme le cancer, leur implication dans la physiopathologie du mélanome est mal connue. Afin d’identifier des DUBs dont l’activité est modulée dans le mélanome, nous avons utilisé une méthode d’étiquettage biochimique in vitro des DUBs actives (‘’DUB trap assay’’) qui nous a permis d’identifier USP14 (Ubiquitin Specific Protease 14) dont l’activité est augmentée dans nos lignées de mélanome par rapport aux mélanocytes. USP14 est associée physiquement au protéasome, avec un rôle important sur la protéostasie cellulaire en général. L’analyse de données bioinformatiques publiques confirme l’importance de USP14 dans le mélanome en associant l’expression du gène USP14 à la progression du mélanome et à un mauvais pronostic. Nous avons ensuite montré que cibler USP14 par des approches génétique (siRNA) ou pharmacologique (inhibiteurs de l’activité) a un effet anti-mélanome in vitro et in vivo, associé à une accumulation de protéines polyubiquitinées, générant un stress du réticulum endoplasmique, la dépolarisation de la mitochondrie et une production de ROS, aboutissant à une mort indépendante des caspases. Cet effet cytotoxique est obtenu indépendamment du statut mutationnel des protéines oncogéniques (BRAFV600E, NRAS, NF1), des suppresseurs de tumeurs (TP53, PTEN), du niveau de résistance aux thérapies ciblées ou du statut phénotypique des mélanomes. Ces résultats indiquent que USP14 représente une nouvelle cible thérapeutique pertinente dans le mélanome. Dans la continuité de ces travaux, j’ai cherché à identifier d'autres DUBs pouvant jouer un rôle dans la prolifération et la survie des cellules de mélanome en réalisant le criblage d'une banque de siRNA ciblant 90 DUBs sur une lignée de cellules de mélanome. Outre le fait de confirmer l’implication de USP14 dans la prolifération du mélanome, ce criblage génétique révèle que la déplétion d’une autre DUB associée au protéasome a un puissant effet antiprolifératif sur les cellules de mélanome. Nos travaux préliminaires montrent que le ciblage de cette nouvelle DUB se traduit par un arrêt de prolifération suivi d’une mort cellulaire associée à des dommages à l’ADN in vitro et in vivo. Dans l’ensemble, mes travaux de thèse révèlent un rôle essentiel des DUBs associées au protéasome dans la prolifération et la survie du mélanome, et ouvrent la piste à de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques ciblant les mécanismes aberrants de la protéostasie tumorale de ce cancer. / Non communiqué

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第21829号 / 農博第2342号 / 新制||農||1068(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H31||N5201(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科地域環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 田中 千尋, 教授 本田 与一, 准教授 刑部 正博 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM