bioRxiv · 10.64898/2025.12.19.695442
TRIM37 recognizes a bipartite degron to ubiquitinate centrosome substrates
Abstract
Dysregulation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM37 is associated with tumor formation and Mulibrey nanism, a recessive developmental syndrome. TRIM37 regulates steady-state levels of centrosome proteins and limits their ectopic assembly, but how it recognizes and ubiquitinates its substrates is poorly understood. We found that TRIM37 directly ubiquitinates the centrosome-forming protein Cep192 at 7 lysines clustered near its C-terminus. TRIM37 binds Cep192 at a C-terminal intrinsically disordered region followed by an ASH domain (IDR+ASH8). Mutation of the 7 lysines or the IDR+ASH8 domain increased Cep192 levels and stability in cells, indicating loss of TRIM37-based regulation. Fusing IDR+ASH8 to an unrelated protein (GFP-EB1) was sufficient to enable its degradation via TRIM37. Biochemical assays revealed that IDR+ASH8 is primarily monomeric and binds TRIM37 via two separate coiled-coil motifs with mid-nanomolar affinity. We propose that the IDR+ASH8 motif is a bipartite degron for TRIM37, enabling it to target centrosome proteins and adjust their levels.
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Stachera, W., Tafur, J., Familiari, N. E., Yaguchi, K., Woodruff, J. B.. 2025-12-21. TRIM37 recognizes a bipartite degron to ubiquitinate centrosome substrates. https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.19.695442
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