title: Regulation of the polycomb protein Ring1B by self-ubiquitination or by E6-AP may have implications to the pathogenesis of Angelman syndrome.
abstract: The polycomb repressive complex (PRC) 1 protein Ring1B is an ubiquitin ligase that modifies nucleosomal histone H2A, a modification which plays a critical role in regulation of gene expression. We have shown that self-ubiquitination of Ring1B generates multiply branched, "noncanonical" polyubiquitin chains that do not target the ligase for degradation, but rather stimulate its activity toward histone H2A. This finding implies that Ring1B is targeted by a heterologous E3. In this study, we identified E6-AP (E6-associated protein) as a ligase that targets Ring1B for "canonical" ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. We further demonstrated that both the self-ubiquitination of Ring1B and its modification by E6-AP target the same lysines, suggesting that the fate of Ring1B is tightly regulated (e.g., activation vs. degradation) by the type of chains and the ligase that catalyzes their formation. As expected, inactivation of E6-AP affects downstream effectors: Ring1B and ubiquitinated H2A levels are increased accompanied by repressed expression of HoxB9, a PRC1 target gene. Consistent with these findings, E6-AP knockout mice display an elevated level of Ring1B and ubiquitinated histone H2A in various tissues, including cerebellar Purkinje neurons, which may have implications to the pathogenesis of Angelman syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by deficiency of E6-AP in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center, The Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel.
authors.forename: Daphna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zaaroor-Regev
authors.forename: Prim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Bie
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheffner
authors.forename: Tahel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noy
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shemer
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heled
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pikarsky
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciechanover
mesh_terms: D017204:Angelman Syndrome / Q000196:embryology*; D000818:Animals; D002384:Catalysis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008239:Lysine / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D063150:Polycomb Repressive Complex 1; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D025801:Ubiquitin; C471639:UBE3A protein, human; D063150:Polycomb Repressive Complex 1; C489841:RNF2 protein, human; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; D008239:Lysine