Cell differentiation depends fundamentally on the turnover of selected regulatory and structural proteins. This universal aspect of development is mediated in large part by polyubiquitination, which targets proteins for disposal in the 26S-proteasome. A major group of polyubiquitin ligases, the SCF (Skp1-cullin1-Fbox) subclass of cullin-RING-type E3 ubiquitin (Ub)-ligases (CRLs), has been directly implicated in numerous physiological (including cell cycle) and developmental processes. A critical feature is their use o a specificity factor for selecting targets, following a priming event such as phosphorylation. Considerable evidence indicates that CRL Ub-ligases are also regulated. Our findings in the model organism Dictyostelium reveal new and novel mechanisms for regulating the SCF class itself. These mechanisms appear to be widespread in protists including many important human pathogens. The novel mechanisms involve covalent modification of the Skp1 adaptor by prolylhydroxylation and subsequent serial modification by 5 sugars to ultimately form a pentasaccharide. We defined the genetics and enzymology of the pathway in the last and earlier project periods. These studies also revealed striking changes in the O2 dependence of development which we traced back to an O2 sensor function of the prolyl 4-hydroxylase analogous to a corresponding process in humans. We also discovered that successive glycosylation steps modulate O2 sensing, and that the final glycosyltransferase in the pathway, AgtA, has enzyme-independent functions that are also necessary for proper development. Our newest findings now suggest that these modifications alter the conformation of Skp1, which inhibits its homodimerization and promotes binding of Skp1 to Fbox proteins, leading to their auto-polyubiquitination and premature degradation. Furthermore, AgtA competitively binds unmodified Skp1, by a novel self-limiting mechanism mediated by glycosylation. Because these interactions pertain to the assembly of E3SCFUb-ligases, we hypothesize that the Skp1 modification enzymes ultimately control the ubiquitination of many of the ~50 predicted Fbox proteins, most of which are differentially regulated during development, and potentially their target substrates as well. The goal of this project is to define the biochemical mechanism of how this occurs. This model is important be- cause it offers a novel mode of specific regulation of E3SCFUb-ligases with major impact on development, and the occurrence of the 6-enzyme pathway in pathogenic protists presents a large drug target for future exploitation. The studies will be conducted in Dictyostelium, an experimentally facile organism where we have developed invaluable tools to test the hypothesis.
Aim 1 will investigate how hydroxylation, glycosylation, and AgtA affect assembly of SCF complexes and their E3 Ub-ligase activities in vitro.
Aim 2 will investigate the relevance of the findings to Skp1 complex assembly and activities in cells using immunoprecipitation and microscopy.
Aim 3 will employ gene and inhibitor synthetic studies to address the linkage of Skp1 modification to ubiquitination and degradation activities in developmental regulation.

Public Health Relevance

The greatest potential biomedical relevance for the novel regulation of E3SCFUb-ligases is to the protozoan pathogens that possess the pathway genes, including plant pathogens of the Phytophthora group, which impact on human nutrition (e.g., soybean production), Acanthamoeba, which causes amoebic keratitis and encephalitis, and apicomplexans that include the agent for toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii), an important disease of humans and livestock. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that a vector of human Legionnaires disease, Legionella pneumophila, depends on Skp1 for proliferation in Dictyostelium, a potential reservoir, and other hosts. We anticipate that our insights from studies in the model organism Dictyostelium will inspire novel tests of prolyl 4-hydroxylase inhibitors tha are emerging from studies of the animal enzyme, toward the control of infectious disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM037539-24
Application #
9109461
Study Section
Intercellular Interactions Study Section (ICI)
Program Officer
Marino, Pamela
Project Start
2015-07-01
Project End
2017-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
24
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Georgia
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
004315578
City
Athens
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30602
Gas-Pascual, Elisabet; Ichikawa, Hiroshi Travis; Sheikh, Mohammed Osman et al. (2018) CRISPR/Cas9 and glycomics tools for Toxoplasma glycobiology. J Biol Chem :
Xu, Xianzhong; Eletsky, Alexander; Sheikh, M Osman et al. (2018) Glycosylation Promotes the Random Coil to Helix Transition in a Region of a Protist Skp1 Associated with F-Box Binding. Biochemistry 57:511-515
Sheikh, M Osman; Thieker, David; Chalmers, Gordon et al. (2017) O2 sensing-associated glycosylation exposes the F-box-combining site of the Dictyostelium Skp1 subunit in E3 ubiquitin ligases. J Biol Chem 292:18897-18915
Sheikh, M Osman; Halmo, Stephanie M; Patel, Sneha et al. (2017) Rapid screening of sugar-nucleotide donor specificities of putative glycosyltransferases. Glycobiology 27:206-212
Summers, Jody A; Harper, Angelica R; Feasley, Christa L et al. (2016) Identification of Apolipoprotein A-I as a Retinoic Acid-binding Protein in the Eye. J Biol Chem 291:18991-9005
West, Christopher M; Blader, Ira J (2015) Oxygen sensing by protozoans: how they catch their breath. Curr Opin Microbiol 26:41-7
Feasley, Christa L; van der Wel, Hanke; West, Christopher M (2015) Evolutionary diversity of social amoebae N-glycomes may support interspecific autonomy. Glycoconj J 32:345-59
Sheikh, M Osman; Xu, Yuechi; van der Wel, Hanke et al. (2015) Glycosylation of Skp1 promotes formation of Skp1-cullin-1-F-box protein complexes in dictyostelium. Mol Cell Proteomics 14:66-80
Chinoy, Zoeisha S; Schafer, Christopher M; West, Christopher M et al. (2015) Chemical Synthesis of a Glycopeptide Derived from Skp1 for Probing Protein Specific Glycosylation. Chemistry 21:11779-87
Sheikh, M Osman; Schafer, Christopher M; Powell, John T et al. (2014) Glycosylation of Skp1 affects its conformation and promotes binding to a model f-box protein. Biochemistry 53:1657-69

Showing the most recent 10 out of 50 publications