Ubiquitin-dependent intramembrane rhomboid protease promotes ERAD of membrane proteins.
The ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway serves as an important cellular safeguard by directing incorrectly folded and unassembled proteins from the ER to the proteasome. Still, however, little is known about the components mediating ERAD of membrane proteins. Here we show that the evolutionary conserved rhomboid family protein RHBDL4 is a ubiquitin-dependent ER-resident intramembrane protease that is upregulated upon ER stress. RHBDL4 cleaves single-spanning and polytopic membrane proteins with unstable transmembrane helices, leading to their degradation by the canonical ERAD machinery. RHBDL4 specifically binds the AAA+-ATPase p97, suggesting that proteolytic processing and dislocation into the cytosol are functionally linked. The phylogenetic relationship between rhomboids and the ERAD factor derlin suggests that substrates for intramembrane proteolysis and protein dislocation are recruited by a shared mechanism.
Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie der Universität Heidelberg (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Allianz, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Lina
L
Fleig
Nina
N
Bergbold
Priyanka
P
Sahasrabudhe
Beate
B
Geiger
Lejla
L
Kaltak
Marius K
MK
Lemberg
D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D060746:Endoplasmic Reticulum-Associated Degradation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021381:Protein Transport; D059748:Proteolysis; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D025801:Ubiquitin; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; C466104:RHBDL3 protein, human; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C404942:p97 ATPase