At the G
2/M transition, the NIPA F-box protein is phosphorylated
on several serine residues
[18].
This phosphorylation leads to dissociation of the SCF
NIPA E3 ligase.
In late mitosis, the phosphorylated form of NIPA disappears, while simultaneously
a nonphosphorylated form of NIPA emerges.
Here we show that the phosphorylated form of NIPA is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome
system in late mitosis. It has been shown before that certain F-Box proteins
are themselves ubiquitinated and degraded. Initially, this was attributed
to an auto-ubiquitination reaction of the F-Box proteins
[22]. However, for the two F-Box
proteins Skp2 and Tome-1 an SCF-independent, but rather APC/C
Cdh1-dependent
degradation was shown recently
[23]–
[25]. Here, we further
establish NIPA as a target of the APC/C
Cdh1 in vitro
and
in vivo.
The APC/CCdh1 is active during the G1 phase. However,
unphosphorylated NIPA accumulates during this phase of the cell cycle, indicating
that the APC/CCdh1 exclusively ubiquitinates the phosphorylated
form of NIPA, while the unphosphorylated form is protected from recognition
by the APC/CCdh1.
This regulation of an APC/C substrate by phosphorylation is remarkable
since it was assumed until recently that APC/C-mediated ubiquitination is
regulated by the activity of the ligase itself. Nevertheless, several reports
recently showed a regulation of APC/C-mediated ubiquitination by substrate
modification (for example see refs. 25–27). For NIPA we show however,
that not phosphorylation itself, but the phosphorylation-induced dissociation
from the SCF core protein Skp1 targets NIPA for degradation. In line with
this model, mutation of the F-Box like motif in NIPA, which abolishes its
binding to Skp1, greatly reduces the stability of the NIPA protein.
Wei
et al. reported that a Skp2 F-box mutant that cannot
form SCF complexes is a better APC/C
Cdh1 substrate than wild-type
Skp2
in vivo [23].
Strikingly, APC/C
Cdh1-mediated ubiquitination of Skp2, similarly
to NIPA, is regulated by timely phosphorylation of Skp2
[26]. However, it seems that this
phosphorylation of Skp2 does not influence its binding to the SCF core complex
[27],
[28], therefore the cell-cycle
dependent ubiquitination of Skp2 by the APC/C does not appear to be regulated
by its interaction with Skp1. Nevertheless, APC/C-mediated ubiquitination
of Skp2 and other substrates might not be regulated by phosphorylation itself,
but rather by phosphorylation-induced modifications of interactions which
regulate APC/C-dependent ubiquitination as we have shown here for NIPA.
Despite exclusive degradation of the phosphorylated form of NIPA in late
mitosis and G1, we were able to show APC/CCdh1-dependent ubiquitination
and degradation of the unphosphorylated form in vitro. This
finding further supports the theory that phosphorylation of NIPA itself has
no impact on its availability for the APC/C.
Similarly, we were able to observe ubiquitination of unphosphorylated NIPA
and its interaction with Cdh1 in vivo. However, this was
only possible if large amounts of NIPA were overexpressed, indicating that
ubiquitination of unphosphorylated NIPA can only take place if NIPA is present
in excess compared to the levels of Skp1. This finding further supports our
theory that Skp1 protects NIPA from degradation by interfering with recruitment
of Cdh1.
We identified two putative destruction motifs in NIPA. Mutation of these
motifs leads to a decreased Cdh1-dependent in vitro ubiquitination compared
to the wildtype NIPA protein, indicating a role of these motifs for Cdh1-dependent
ubiquitination. However, we were not able to show a stabilization of the mutant
protein in vivo. This might be due to the fact that mutation of the second
D-box motif leads to cytoplasmic relocalization of NIPA, likely interfering
with proper ubiquitination of NIPA. Nonetheless, further as yet unidentified
degradation motifs might be important for efficient degradation of NIPA in
vivo.
In summary, our results provide evidence that the F-Box like protein NIPA
is degraded in late mitosis in an APC/CCdh1-dependent manner. We
further show that binding to the SCF core complex protects NIPA from APC/C-mediated
degradation, leading to exclusive degradation of the phosphorylated form of
NIPA. We thus define a novel mode of controlling degradation of F-Box proteins,
providing an additional layer of control over APC/C-mediated ubiquitination.