MKRN3 regulates the epigenetic switch of mammalian puberty via ubiquitination of MBD3.

Central precocious puberty (CPP) refers to a human syndrome of early puberty initiation with characteristic increase in hypothalamic production and release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Previously, loss-of-function mutations in human MKRN3, encoding a putative E3 ubiquitin ligase, were found to contribute to about 30% of cases of familial CPP. MKRN3 was thereby suggested to serve as a 'brake' of mammalian puberty onset, but the underlying mechanisms remain as yet unknown. Here, we report that genetic ablation of Mkrn3 did accelerate mouse puberty onset with increased production of hypothalamic GnRH1. MKRN3 interacts with and ubiquitinates MBD3, which epigenetically silences GNRH1 through disrupting the MBD3 binding to the GNRH1 promoter and recruitment of DNA demethylase TET2. Our findings have thus delineated a molecular mechanism through which the MKRN3-MBD3 axis controls the epigenetic switch in the onset of mammalian puberty.

Profiling human protein degradome delineates cellular responses to proteasomal inhibition and reveals a feedback mechanism in regulating proteasome homeostasis.

Global change in protein turnover (protein degradome) constitutes a central part of cellular responses to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli. However, profiling protein degradome remains technically challenging. Recently, inhibition of the proteasome, e.g., by using bortezomib (BTZ), has emerged as a major chemotherapeutic strategy for treating multiple myeloma and other human malignancies, but systematic understanding of the mechanisms for BTZ drug action and tumor drug resistance is yet to be achieved. Here we developed and applied a dual-fluorescence-based Protein Turnover Assay (ProTA) to quantitatively profile global changes in human protein degradome upon BTZ-induced proteasomal inhibition. ProTA and subsequent network analyses delineate potential molecular basis for BTZ action and tumor drug resistance in BTZ chemotherapy. Finally, combined use of BTZ with drugs targeting the ProTA-identified key genes or pathways in BTZ action reduced BTZ resistance in multiple myeloma cells. Remarkably, BTZ stabilizes proteasome subunit PSMC1 and proteasome assembly factor PSMD10, suggesting a previously under-appreciated mechanism for regulating proteasome homeostasis. Therefore, ProTA is a novel tool for profiling human protein degradome to elucidate potential mechanisms of drug action and resistance, which might facilitate therapeutic development targeting proteostasis to treat human disorders.

Ubiquitylation of autophagy receptor Optineurin by HACE1 activates selective autophagy for tumor suppression.

In selective autophagy, receptors are central for cargo selection and delivery. However, it remains yet unclear whether and how multiple autophagy receptors might form complex and function concertedly to control autophagy. Optineurin (OPTN), implicated genetically in glaucoma and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was a recently identified autophagy receptor. Here we report that tumor-suppressor HACE1, a ubiquitin ligase, ubiquitylates OPTN and promotes its interaction with p62/SQSTM1 to form the autophagy receptor complex, thus accelerating autophagic flux. Interestingly, the Lys48-linked polyubiquitin chains that HACE1 conjugates onto OPTN might predominantly target OPTN for autophagic degradation. By demonstrating that the HACE1-OPTN axis synergistically suppresses growth and tumorigenicity of lung cancer cells, our findings may open an avenue for developing autophagy-targeted therapeutic intervention into cancer.