It has been observed that the identity of N-terminal residues of a protein is related to the half life of the protein. This observation yields a rule, called the N-end rule [ (PUBMED:8901547) ]. Similar but distinct versions of the N-end rule operate in all organisms examined, from mammals to fungi and bacteria. In eukaryotes, the N-end rule pathway is a part of the ubiquitin degradation system. Some proteins that have a very short half life contain a specific motif at their N terminus, the N-degron. It consists of a destabilising N-terminal residue and an internal Lys, which is the site of poly-Ub chain [ (PUBMED:8901547) (PUBMED:10545113) ].
The UBR1 protein was shown to bind specifically to proteins bearing N-terminal residues that are destabilising according to the N-end rule, but not to otherwise identical proteins bearing stabilising N-terminal residues [ (PUBMED:10581257) ]. UBR1 contains an N-terminal conserved region (the UBR-type zinc finger) which is also found in various proteins implicated in N-degron recognition. The UBR-type zinc finger defines a unique E3 class, most likely N-degron specific [ (PUBMED:16055722) ].
A family of mammalian E3 ubiquitin ligases that contain the UBR box motif and recognize N-degrons.
Mol Cell Biol. 2005; 25: 7120-36
Display abstract
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 approximately 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.
The mouse and human genes encoding the recognition component of the N-end rule pathway.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95: 7898-903
Display abstract
The N-end rule relates the in vivo half-life of a protein to the identity of its N-terminal residue. The N-end rule pathway is one proteolytic pathway of the ubiquitin system. The recognition component of this pathway, called N-recognin or E3, binds to a destabilizing N-terminal residue of a substrate protein and participates in the formation of a substrate-linked multiubiquitin chain. We report the cloning of the mouse and human Ubr1 cDNAs and genes that encode a mammalian N-recognin called E3alpha. Mouse UBR1p (E3alpha) is a 1,757-residue (200-kDa) protein that contains regions of sequence similarity to the 225-kDa Ubr1p of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mouse and human UBR1p have apparent homologs in other eukaryotes as well, thus defining a distinct family of proteins, the UBR family. The residues essential for substrate recognition by the yeast Ubr1p are conserved in the mouse UBR1p. The regions of similarity among the UBR family members include a putative zinc finger and RING-H2 finger, another zinc-binding domain. Ubr1 is located in the middle of mouse chromosome 2 and in the syntenic 15q15-q21.1 region of human chromosome 15. Mouse Ubr1 spans approximately 120 kilobases of genomic DNA and contains approximately 50 exons. Ubr1 is ubiquitously expressed in adults, with skeletal muscle and heart being the sites of highest expression. In mouse embryos, the Ubr1 expression is highest in the branchial arches and in the tail and limb buds. The cloning of Ubr1 makes possible the construction of Ubr1-lacking mouse strains, a prerequisite for the functional understanding of the mammalian N-end rule pathway.
