The ubiquitin ligase Ubr4 controls stability of podocin/MEC-2 supercomplexes.

The PHB-domain protein podocin maintains the renal filtration barrier and its mutation is an important cause of hereditary nephrotic syndrome. Podocin and its Caenorhabditis elegans orthologue MEC-2 have emerged as key components of mechanosensitive membrane protein signalling complexes. Whereas podocin resides at a specialized cell junction at the podocyte slit diaphragm, MEC-2 is found in neurons required for touch sensitivity. Here, we show that the ubiquitin ligase Ubr4 is a key component of the podocin interactome purified both from cultured podocytes and native glomeruli. It colocalizes with podocin and regulates its stability. In C. elegans, this process is conserved. Here, Ubr4 is responsible for the degradation of mislocalized MEC-2 multimers. Ubiquitylomic analysis of mouse glomeruli revealed that podocin is ubiquitylated at two lysine residues. These sites were Ubr4-dependent and were conserved across species. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that ubiquitylation of one site, K301, do not only target podocin/MEC-2 for proteasomal degradation, but may also affect stability and disassembly of the multimeric complex. We suggest that Ubr4 is a key regulator of podocyte foot process proteostasis.

Casein kinase 1 α phosphorylates the Wnt regulator Jade-1 and modulates its activity.

Tight regulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling is critical for vertebrate development and tissue maintenance, and deregulation can lead to a host of disease phenotypes, including developmental disorders and cancer. Proteins associated with primary cilia and centrosomes have been demonstrated to negatively regulate canonical Wnt signaling in interphase cells. The plant homeodomain zinc finger protein Jade-1 can act as an E3 ubiquitin ligase-targeting ß-catenin for proteasomal degradation and concentrates at the centrosome and ciliary basal body in addition to the nucleus in interphase cells. We demonstrate that the destruction complex component casein kinase 1α (CK1α) phosphorylates Jade-1 at a conserved SLS motif and reduces the ability of Jade-1 to inhibit ß-catenin signaling. Consistently, Jade-1 lacking the SLS motif is more effective than wild-type Jade-1 in reducing ß-catenin-induced secondary axis formation in Xenopus laevis embryos in vivo. Interestingly, CK1α also phosphorylates ß-catenin and the destruction complex component adenomatous polyposis coli at a similar SLS motif to the effect that ß-catenin is targeted for degradation. The opposing effect of Jade-1 phosphorylation by CK1α suggests a novel example of the dual functions of CK1α activity to either oppose or promote canonical Wnt signaling in a context-dependent manner.