Biochemical and Genetic Studies of UBR3, a Ubiquitin Ligase with a Function in Olfactory and Other Sensory Systems

Our previous work identified E3 ubiquitin ligases, termed UBR1-UBR7, that contain the ~70-residue UBR box, a motif important for the targeting of N-end rule substrates. In this pathway, specific N-terminal residues of substrates are recognized as degradation signals by UBR box-containing E3s that include UBR1, UBR2, UBR4, and UBR5. The other E3s of this set, UBR3, UBR6, and UBR7, remained uncharacterized. Here we describe the cloning and analyses of mouse UBR3. The similarities of UBR3 to the UBR1 and UBR2 E3s of the N-end rule pathway include the RING and UBR domains. We show that HR6A and HR6B, the E2 enzymes that bind to UBR1 and UBR2, also interact with UBR3. However, in contrast to UBR1 and UBR2, UBR3 does not recognize N-end rule substrates. We also constructed UBR3-lacking mouse strains. In the 129SvImJ background, UBR3-/- mice died during embryogenesis, whereas the C57BL/6 background UBR3-/- mice exhibited neonatal lethality and suckling impairment that could be partially rescued by litter size reduction. The adult UBR3-/- mice had female-specific behavioral anosmia. Cells of the olfactory pathway were found to express beta-galactosidase (LacZ) that marked the deletion/disruption UBR3- allele. The UBR3-specific LacZ expression was also prominent in cells of the touch, vision, hearing, and taste systems, suggesting a regulatory role of UBR3 in sensory pathways, including olfaction. By analogy with functions of the UBR domain in the N-end rule pathway, we propose that the UBR box of UBR3 may recognize small compounds that modulate the targeting, by this E3, of its currently unknown substrates

Ubiquitin ligase UBR3 regulates cellular levels of the essential DNA repair protein APE1 and is required for genome stability

APE1 (Ref-1) is an essential human protein involved in DNA damage repair and regulation of transcription. Although the cellular functions and biochemical properties of APE1 are well characterized, the mechanism involved in regulation of the cellular levels of this important DNA repair/transcriptional regulation enzyme, remains poorly understood. Using an in vitro ubiquitylation assay, we have now purified the human E3 ubiquitin ligase UBR3 as a major activity that polyubiquitylates APE1 at multiple lysine residues clustered on the N-terminal tail. We further show that a knockout of the Ubr3 gene in mouse embryonic fibroblasts leads to an up-regulation of the cellular levels of APE1 protein and subsequent genomic instability. These data propose an important role for UBR3 in the control of the steady state levels of APE1 and consequently error free DNA repair

A Family of Mammalian E3 Ubiquitin Ligases That Contain the UBR Box Motif and Recognize N-Degrons

A subset of proteins targeted by the N-end rule pathway bear degradation signals called N-degrons, whose determinants include destabilizing N-terminal residues. Our previous work identified mouse UBR1 and UBR2 as E3 ubiquitin ligases that recognize N-degrons. Such E3s are called N-recognins. We report here that while double-mutant UBR1(−/−) UBR2(−/−) mice die as early embryos, the rescued UBR1(−/−) UBR2(−/−) fibroblasts still retain the N-end rule pathway, albeit of lower activity than that of wild-type fibroblasts. An affinity assay for proteins that bind to destabilizing N-terminal residues has identified, in addition to UBR1 and UBR2, a huge (570 kDa) mouse protein, termed UBR4, and also the 300-kDa UBR5, a previously characterized mammalian E3 known as EDD/hHYD. UBR1, UBR2, UBR4, and UBR5 shared a ∼70-amino-acid zinc finger-like domain termed the UBR box. The mammalian genome encodes at least seven UBR box-containing proteins, which we propose to call UBR1 to UBR7. UBR1(−/−) UBR2(−/−) fibroblasts that have been made deficient in UBR4 as well (through RNA interference) were significantly impaired in the degradation of N-end rule substrates such as the Sindbis virus RNA polymerase nsP4 (bearing N-terminal Tyr) and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase (bearing N-terminal Phe). Our results establish the UBR box family as a unique class of E3 proteins that recognize N-degrons or structurally related determinants for ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis and perhaps other processes as well

Female Lethality and Apoptosis of Spermatocytes in Mice Lacking the UBR2 Ubiquitin Ligase of the N-End Rule Pathway

Substrates of the ubiquitin-dependent N-end rule pathway include proteins with destabilizing N-terminal residues. UBR1(−/−) mice, which lacked the pathway's ubiquitin ligase E3α, were viable and retained the N-end rule pathway. The present work describes the identification and analysis of mouse UBR2, a homolog of UBR1. We demonstrate that the substrate-binding properties of UBR2 are highly similar to those of UBR1, identifying UBR2 as the second E3 of the mammalian N-end rule pathway. UBR2(−/−) mouse strains were constructed, and their viability was found to be dependent on both gender and genetic background. In the strain 129 (inbred) background, the UBR2(−/−) genotype was lethal to most embryos of either gender. In the 129/B6 (mixed) background, most UBR2(−/−) females died as embryos, whereas UBR2(−/−) males were viable but infertile, owing to the postnatal degeneration of the testes. The gross architecture of UBR2(−/−) testes was normal and spermatogonia were intact as well, but UBR2(−/−) spermatocytes were arrested between leptotene/zygotene and pachytene and died through apoptosis. A conspicuous defect of UBR2(−/−) spermatocytes was the absence of intact synaptonemal complexes. We conclude that the UBR2 ubiquitin ligase and, hence, the N-end rule pathway are required for male meiosis and spermatogenesis and for an essential aspect of female embryonic development