Physical and functional interaction of the HECT ubiquitin-protein ligases E6AP and HERC2.

Deregulation of the ubiquitin-protein ligase E6AP contributes to the development of the Angelman syndrome and to cervical carcinogenesis suggesting that the activity of E6AP needs to be under tight control. However, how E6AP activity is regulated at the post-translational level under non-pathologic conditions is poorly understood. In this study, we report that the giant protein HERC2, which is like E6AP a member of the HECT family of ubiquitin-protein ligases, binds to E6AP. The interaction is mediated by the RCC1-like domain 2 of HERC2 and a region spanning amino acid residues 150-200 of E6AP. Furthermore, we provide evidence that HERC2 stimulates the ubiquitin-protein ligase activity of E6AP in vitro and within cells and that this stimulatory effect does not depend on the ubiquitin-protein ligase activity of HERC2. Thus, the data obtained indicate that HERC2 acts as a regulator of E6AP.

Involvement of the DNA repair protein hHR23 in p53 degradation.

The stability of the tumor suppressor protein p53 is regulated via the ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent proteolytic pathway. Like most substrates of this pathway, p53 is modified by the attachment of polyubiquitin chains prior to proteasome-mediated degradation. However, the mechanism(s) involved in the delivery of polyubiquitylated p53 molecules to the proteasome are currently unclear. Here, we show that the human DNA repair protein hHR23 binds to polyubiquitylated p53 via its carboxyl-terminal ubiquitin-associated (Uba) domain shielding p53 from deubiquitylation in vitro and in vivo. In addition, downregulation of hHR23 expression within cells by RNA interference results in accumulation of p53. Since the Ubl domain of hHR23 has been shown to interact with the 26S proteasome, we propose that hHR23 is intrinsically involved in the delivery of polyubiquitylated p53 molecules to the proteasome. In this model, the Uba domain of hHR23 binds to polyubiquitin chains formed on p53 and protects them from deubiquitylation, while the Ubl domain delivers the polyubiquitylated p53 molecules to the proteasome.