Biomedical subjects

Mark K Saville

Publications and source records attributed to Mark K Saville.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Lysine-63-linked ubiquitination is required for endolysosomal degradation of class I molecules.

MHC class I molecules display peptides from endogenous and viral proteins for immunosurveillance by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). The importance of the class I pathway is emphasised by the remarkable strategies employed by different viruses to downregulate surface class I and avoid CTL recognition. The K3 gene product from Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a viral ubiquitin E3 ligase which ubiquitinates and degrades cell surface MHC class I molecules. We now show that modification of K3-associated class I by lysine-63-linked polyubiquitin chains is necessary for their efficient endocytosis and endolysosomal degradation and present three lines of evidence that monoubiquitination of class I molecules provides an inefficient internalisation signal. This lysine-63-linked polyubiquitination requires both UbcH5b/c and Ubc13-conjugating enzymes for initiating mono- and subsequent polyubiquitination of class I, and the clathrin-dependent internalisation is mediated by the epsin endocytic adaptor. Our results explain how lysine-63-linked polyubiquitination leads to degradation by an endolysosomal pathway and demonstrate a novel mechanism for endocytosis and endolysosomal degradation of class I, which may be applicable to other receptors.

Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport↗

PubMed2005

p53 isoforms can regulate p53 transcriptional activity.

The recently discovered p53-related genes, p73 and p63, express multiple splice variants and N-terminally truncated forms initiated from an alternative promoter in intron 3. To date, no alternative promoter and multiple splice variants have been described for the p53 gene. In this study, we show that p53 has a gene structure similar to the p73 and p63 genes. The human p53 gene contains an alternative promoter and transcribes multiple splice variants. We show that p53 variants are expressed in normal human tissue in a tissue-dependent manner. We determine that the alternative promoter is conserved through evolution from Drosophila to man, suggesting that the p53 family gene structure plays an essential role in the multiple activities of the p53 family members. Consistent with this hypothesis, p53 variants are differentially expressed in human breast tumors compared with normal breast tissue. We establish that p53beta can bind differentially to promoters and can enhance p53 target gene expression in a promoter-dependent manner, while Delta133p53 is dominant-negative toward full-length p53, inhibiting p53-mediated apoptosis. The differential expression of the p53 isoforms in human tumors may explain the difficulties in linking p53 status to the biological properties and drug sensitivity of human cancer.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2004

p14 Arf promotes small ubiquitin-like modifier conjugation of Werners helicase.

Here we demonstrate a novel p53-independent interaction between the nucleolar tumor suppressors, p14 Arf and Werners helicase (WRN). Binding of p14 Arf to WRN is multivalent and resembles the binding of p14 Arf to Mdm2. Residues 2-14 and 82-101 of p14 Arf and residues in the central region and C terminus of WRN have particular importance for binding. p14 Arf promotes small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) modification of WRN in a synergistic manner with the SUMO-conjugating enzyme, UBCH9. p14 Arf causes redistribution of WRN within the nucleus, and this effect is reversed by expression of a SUMO-specific protease, thus implicating the SUMO conjugation pathway in WRN re-localization. We establish that the ability to promote SUMO conjugation is a general property of the p14 Arf tumor suppressor.

DNA Helicases↗

PubMed2004

Regulation of p53 by the ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes UbcH5B/C in vivo.

p53 levels are regulated by ubiquitination and 26 S proteasome-mediated degradation. p53 is a substrate for the E3 ligase Mdm2, however, the ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) involved in p53 ubiquitination in intact cells have not been defined previously. To investigate the E2 specificity of Mdm2 we carried out an in vitro screen using a panel of ubiquitin E2s. Of the E2s tested only UbcH5A, -B, and -C and E2-25K support Mdm2-mediated ubiquitination of p53. The same E2s also support Mdm2 auto-ubiquitination. Small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of UbcH5B/C causes accumulation of Mdm2 and p53 in unstressed cells. We show that suppression of UbcH5B/C inhibits p53 ubiquitination and degradation. Despite up-regulating the level of nuclear p53, UbcH5B/C knockdown does not on its own result in an increase in p53 transcriptional activity or sensitize p53 to activation by the therapeutic drugs doxorubicin and actinomycin D. We provide evidence that Mdm2 is responsible, at least in part, for repression of the transcriptional activity of the accumulated p53. In MCF7 cells levels of UbcH5B/C are reduced by doxorubicin and actinomycin D. This observation and the sensitivity of p53 expression to levels of UbcH5B/C raise the possibility that E2 regulation could be involved in signaling pathways that control the stability of p53. Our data indicate that UbcH5B/C are physiological E2s for Mdm2, which make a significant contribution to the maintenance of low levels of p53 and Mdm2 in unstressed cells and that inhibition of p53 ubiquitination and degradation by targeting UbcH5B/C is not sufficient to up-regulate p53 transcriptional activity.

Cell Line, Tumor↗

PubMed2004

Mdm2-mediated NEDD8 conjugation of p53 inhibits its transcriptional activity.

The only reported role for the conjugation of the NEDD8 ubiquitin-like molecule is control of the activity of SCF ubiquitin ligase complexes. Here, we show that the Mdm2 RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligase can also promote NEDD8 modification of the p53 tumor suppressor protein. Mdm2 is itself modified with NEDD8 with very similar characteristics to the autoubiquitination activity of Mdm2. By using a cell line (TS-41) with a temperature-sensitive mutation in the NEDD8 conjugation pathway and a p53 mutant that cannot be NEDDylated (3NKR), we demonstrate that Mdm2-dependent NEDD8 modification of p53 inhibits its transcriptional activity. These findings expand the role for Mdm2 as an E3 ligase, providing evidence that Mdm2 is a common component of the ubiquitin and NEDD8 conjugation pathway and indicating the diverse mechanisms by which E3 ligases can control the function of substrate proteins.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

B-Myb overcomes a p107-mediated cell proliferation block by interacting with an N-terminal domain of p107.

B-Myb is a cell-cycle regulated transcription factor which is implicated in cell proliferation and has an essential role in early embryonic development. In this study we examined the functions of B-Myb required to overcome G1 arrest in Saos-2 cells induced by the retinoblastoma-related p107 protein. Our results demonstrated that this activity was independent of B-Myb transactivation function, but correlated with its capacity to form an in vivo complex with p107. A large proportion of B-Myb formed complexes with p107 in cotransfected cells, however, B-Myb bound weakly to the related p130 protein and not at all to pRb. In contrast to the E2F transcription factors, which bind the p107 C-terminal pocket domain, B-Myb recognizes an N-terminal p107 region which overlaps the larger cyclin-binding domain. B-Myb and cyclin A2 formed mutually exclusive complexes with p107, and B-Myb enhanced the activity of co-transfected cyclin E kinase activity, implying that B-Myb affects the cell cycle by preventing sequestration of active cyclin/cdk2 complexes. This study defines a novel function of B-Myb and further suggests that the p107 N-terminus provides an interaction domain for transcription factors involved in cell cycle control.

Amino Acid Sequence↗