Biology subjects

Wolberger, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Wolberger, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

FACT and Ubp10 collaborate to modulate H2B deubiquitination and nucleosome dynamics

Monoubiquitination of histone H2B (H2B-Ub) plays a role in transcription and DNA replication, and is required for normal localization of the histone chaperone, FACT. In yeast, H2B-Ub is deubiquitinated by Ubp8, a subunit of SAGA, and Ubp10. Although they target the same substrate, loss of Ubp8 and Ubp10 causes different phenotypes and alters the transcription of different genes. We show that Ubp10 has poor activity on yeast nucleosomes, but that addition of FACT stimulates Ubp10 activity on nucleosomes and not on other substrates. Consistent with a role for FACT in deubiquitinating H2B in vivo, a FACT mutant strain shows elevated levels of H2B-Ub. Combination of FACT mutants with deletion of Ubp10, but not Ubp8, confers increased sensitivity to hydroxyurea and activates a cryptic transcription reporter, suggesting that FACT and Ubp10 may coordinate nucleosome assembly during DNA replication and transcription. Our findings reveal unexpected interplay between H2B deubiquitination and nucleosome dynamics.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2018

OTUB1 non-catalytically regulates the stability of the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme UBE2E1

OTUB1 is a deubiquitinating enzyme that cleaves K48-linked polyubiquitin chains and also regulates ubiquitin signaling through a unique, non-catalytic mechanism. OTUB1 binds to a subset of E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes and inhibits their activity by trapping the E2~ubiquitin thioester and preventing ubiquitin transfer. The same set of E2s stimulate the deubiquitinating activity of OTUB1 when the E2 is not charged with ubiquitin. Previous studies have shown that, in cells, OTUB1 binds to members of the UBE2D (UBCH5) and UBE2E families, as well as to UBC13 (UBE2N). Cellular roles have been identified for the interaction of OTUB1 with UBC13 and members of the UBE2D family, but not for UBE2E E2 enzymes. We report here a novel role for OTUB1-E2 interactions in modulating E2 protein ubiquitination. We find that depletion of OTUB1 dramatically destabilizes the E2 conjugating enzyme UBE2E1 (UBE2E1) in cells and that this effect is independent of the catalytic activity of OTUB1 but depends on the ability of OTUB1 to bind to UBE2E1. We show that OTUB1 suppresses UBE2E1 autoubiquitination in vitro and in cells, thereby preventing UBE2E1 from being targeted to the proteasome for degradation. Taken together, we have found a new role for OTUB1 in rescuing specific E2s from degradation in vivo.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Active site alanine substitutions can convert deubiquitinating enzymes into avid ubiquitin-binding domains

A common strategy for studying the biological role of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) in different pathways is to study the effects of replacing the wild type DUB with a catalytically inactive mutant in cells. We report here that a commonly studied DUB mutation, in which the catalytic cysteine is replaced with alanine, can dramatically increase the affinity of some DUBs for ubiquitin. Overexpression of these tight-binding mutants thus has the potential to sequester cellular pools of monoubiquitin and ubiquitin chains. As a result, cells expressing these mutants may display unpredictable dominant negative physiological effects that are not related to loss of DUB activity. The structure of the SAGA DUB module bound to free ubiquitin reveals the structural basis for the 30-fold higher affinity of Ubp8C146A for ubiquitin. We show that an alternative option, substituting the active site cysteine with arginine, can inactivate DUBs while also decreasing the affinity for ubiquitin.

biochemistry↗