The WW1 Domain Enhances Autoinhibition in Smurf Ubiquitin Ligases

Downregulation of ubiquitin (Ub) ligase activity prevents premature ubiquitination and is critical for cellular homeostasis. Nedd4 Ub ligases share a common domain architecture and yet are regulated in distinct ways through interactions of the catalytic HECT domain with the N-terminal C2 domain or the central WW domain region. Smurf1 and Smurf2 are two highly related Nedd4 ligases with similar to 70% overall sequence identity. Here, we show that the Smurf1 C2 domain interacts with the HECT domain and inhibits ligase activity in trans. However, in contrast to Smurf2, we find that full-length Smurf1 is a highly active Ub ligase, and we can attribute this striking difference in regulation to the lack of one WW domain (WW1) in Smurf1. Using NMR spectroscopy and biochemical assays, we identified the WW1 region as an additional inhibitory element in Smurf2 that cooperates with the C2 domain to enhance HECT domain binding and Smurf2 inhibition. Our work provides important insights into Smurf regulation and highlights that the activities of highly related proteins can be controlled in distinct ways. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Structural basis for the interaction between the cell polarity proteins Par3 and Par6

Polarity is a fundamental property of most cell types. The Par protein complex is a major driving force in generating asymmetrically localized protein networks and consists of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC), Par3, and Par6. Dysfunction of this complex causes developmental abnormalities and diseases such as cancer. We identified a PDZ domain-binding motif in Par6 that was essential for its interaction with Par3 in vitro and for Par3-mediated membrane localization of Par6 in cultured cells. In fly embryos, we observed that the PDZ domain-binding motif was functionally redundant with the PDZ domain in targeting Par6 to the cortex of epithelial cells. Our structural analyses by x-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy showed that both the PDZ1 and PDZ3 domains but not the PDZ2 domain in Par3 engaged in a canonical interaction with the PDZ domain-binding motif in Par6. Par3 thus has the potential to recruit two Par6 proteins simultaneously, which may facilitate the assembly of polarity protein networks through multivalent PDZ domain interactions

Author Correction: The structure of the ubiquitin-like modifier FAT10 reveals an alternative targeting mechanism for proteasomal degradation

The original version of the Supplementary Information associated with this Article inadvertently omitted Supplementary Table 3. The HTML version of the Article has been updated to include a corrected version of the Supplementary Information