• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.289-293
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• 2008

The role of SPOP in the ubiquitination of $ER{\alpha}$ by the Cullin3-based E3 ubiquitin ligase complex was investigated. We showed that the N-terminal region of SPOP containing the MATH domain interacts with the AF-2 domain of $ER{\alpha}$ in cultured human embryonic 293 cells. SPOP was required for coimmunoprecipitation of $ER{\alpha}$ with Cullin3. This is the first report of the essential role of SPOP in $ER{\alpha}$ ubiquitination by the Cullin3-based E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. We also demonstrated repression of the transactivation capability of $ER{\alpha}$ in cultured mammalian cells.

• Mycobiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.243-248
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• 2011

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is one of the major protein turnover mechanisms that plays important roles in the regulation of a variety of cellular functions. It is composed of E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzyme), E2 (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme), and E3 ubiquitin ligases that transfer ubiquitin to the substrates that are subjected to degradation in the 26S proteasome. The Skp1, Cullin, F-box protein (SCF) E3 ligases are the largest E3 gene family, in which the F-box protein is the key component to determine substrate specificity. Although the SCF E3 ligase and its F-box proteins have been extensively studied in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, only limited studies have been reported on the role of F-box proteins in other fungi. Recently, a number of studies revealed that F-box proteins are required for fungal pathogenicity. In this communication, we review the current understanding of F-box proteins in pathogenic fungi.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.834-840
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• 2016

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) utilizes two different cell-cycle modes, binucleations during the L1 larval stage and endoreduplications at four larval moltings, for its postembryonic intestinal development. Previous genetic studies indicated that CDC-25.2 is specifically required for binucleations at the L1 larval stage and is repressed before endoreduplications. Furthermore, LIN-23, the C. elegans ${\beta}$-TrCP ortholog, appears to function as a repressor of CDC-25.2 to prevent excess intestinal divisions. We previously reported that intestinal hyperplasia in lin-23(e1883) mutants was effectively suppressed by the RNAi depletion of cdc-25.2. Nevertheless, LIN-23 targeting CDC-25.2 for ubiquitination as a component of E3 ubiquitin ligase has not yet been tested. In this study, LIN-23 is shown to be the major E3 ubiquitin ligase component, recognizing CDC-25.2 to repress their activities for proper transition of cell-cycle modes during the C. elegans postembryonic intestinal development. In addition, for the first time that LIN-23 physically interacts with both CDC-25.1 and CDC-25.2 and facilitates ubiquitination for timely regulation of their activities during the intestinal development.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.143-150
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• 2018

The Hippo signaling pathway plays an essential role in adult tissue homeostasis and organ size control. Abnormal regulation of Hippo signaling can be a cause for multiple types of human cancers. Since the awareness of the importance of the Hippo signaling in a wide range of biological fields has been continually grown, it is also understood that a thorough and well-rounded comprehension of the precise dynamics could provide fundamental insights for therapeutic applications. Several components in the Hippo signaling pathway are known to be targeted for proteasomal degradation via ubiquitination by E3 ligases. ${\beta}-TrCP$ is a well-known E3 ligase of YAP/TAZ, which leads to the reduction of YAP/TAZ levels. The Hippo signaling pathway can also be inhibited by the E3 ligases (such as ITCH) which target LATS1/2 for degradation. Regulation via ubiquitination involves not only complex network of E3 ligases but also deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), which remove ubiquitin from its targets. Interestingly, non-degradative ubiquitin modifications are also known to play important roles in the regulation of Hippo signaling. Although there has been much advanced progress in the investigation of ubiquitin modifications acting as regulators of the Hippo signaling pathway, research done to date still remains inadequate due to the sheer complexity and diversity of the subject. Herein, we review and discuss recent developments that implicate ubiquitin-mediated regulatory mechanisms at multiple steps of the Hippo signaling pathway.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.235-241
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• 2012

Sumoylation is a reversible conjugation process that attaches the small ubiquitin modifier (SUMO) peptide to target proteins and regulates a wide variety of cellular functions in eucaryotes. As final step of the sumoylation, SUMO E3 ligases facilitate conjugation of SUMO to target proteins. To characterize the functions of the SUMO E3 ligases in Oryza sativa, we isolated a single recessive rice SUMO E3 ligase, Ossiz1-2 mutant. In addition, we also confirmed the interaction between OsSIZ1/-2 and OsSUMO1, respectively, by using an Agrobacterium-based tobacco luciferase transient expression system. Ossiz1-2 mutant exhibited approximately 20% reduction in growth and developmental units compared with wild type. Especially, number of filled seeds and total seed weight were dramatically decreased in the Ossiz1-2 mutant rice. Thus, these results suggest that sumoylation by the OsSIZ1 as SUMO E3 ligase plays an important role in regulating growth and development in rice.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.840-849
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• 2019

The spatiotemporal mitotic processes are controlled qualitatively by phosphorylation and qualitatively by ubiquitination. Although the SKP1-CUL1-F-box protein (SCF) complex and the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) mainly mediate ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of mitotic regulators, the E3 ligase for a large portion of mitotic proteins has yet to be identified. Here, we report c-Cbl as an E3 ligase that degrades DDA3, a protein involved in spindle dynamics. Depletion of c-Cbl led to increased DDA3 protein levels, resulting in increased recruitment of Kif2a to the mitotic spindle, a concomitant reduction in spindle formation, and chromosome alignment defects. Furthermore, c-Cbl depletion induced centrosome over-duplication and centriole amplification. Therefore, we concluded that c-Cbl controls spindle dynamics and centriole duplication through its E3 ligase activity against DDA3.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.101-115
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• 2021

The INO80 chromatin remodeling complex has roles in many essential cellular processes, including DNA replication. However, the mechanisms that regulate INO80 in these processes remain largely unknown. We previously reported that the stability of Ino80, the catalytic ATPase subunit of INO80, is regulated by the ubiquitin proteasome system and that BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1), a nuclear deubiquitinase with tumor suppressor activity, stabilizes Ino80 via deubiquitination and promotes replication fork progression. However, the E3 ubiquitin ligase that targets Ino80 for proteasomal degradation was unknown. Here, we identified the C-terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein (CHIP), the E3 ubiquitin ligase that functions in cooperation with Hsp70, as an Ino80-interacting protein. CHIP polyubiquitinates Ino80 in a manner dependent on Hsp70. Contrary to our expectation that CHIP degrades Ino80, CHIP instead stabilizes Ino80 by extending its half-life. The data suggest that CHIP stabilizes Ino80 by inhibiting degradative ubiquitination. We also show that CHIP works together with BAP1 to enhance the stabilization of Ino80, leading to its chromatin binding. Interestingly, both depletion and overexpression of CHIP compromise replication fork progression with little effect on fork stalling, as similarly observed for BAP1 and Ino80, indicating that an optimal cellular level of Ino80 is important for replication fork speed but not for replication stress suppression. This work therefore idenitifes CHIP as an E3 ubiquitin ligase that stabilizes Ino80 via nondegradative ubiquitination and suggests that CHIP and BAP1 act in concert to regulate Ino80 ubiquitination to fine-tune its stability for efficient DNA replication.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.523-529
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• 2023

Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification that is involved in the quality control of proteins and responsible for modulating a variety of cellular physiological processes. Protein ubiquitination and deubiquitination are reversible processes that regulate the stability of target substrates. The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) helps regulate tumor-promoting processes, such as DNA repair, cell cycle, apoptosis, metastasis, and angiogenesis. The UPS comprises a combination of ubiquitin, ubiquitin-activating enzymes (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2), and ubiquitin-ligase enzymes (E3), which complete the degradation of target proteins. Ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (UBE2s) play an inter-mediate role in the UPS process by moving activated ubiquitin to target proteins through E3 ligases. UBE2s consist of 40 members and are classified according to conserved catalytic ubiquitin-conjugating (UBC) domain-flanking extensions in humans. Since UBE2s have specificity to substrates like E3 ligase, the significance of UBE2 has been accentuated in tumorigenesis. The dysregulation of multiple E2 enzymes and their critical roles in modulating oncogenic signaling pathways have been reported in several types of cancer. The elevation of UBE2 expression is correlated with a worse prognosis in cancer patients. In this review, we summarize the basic functions and regulatory mechanisms of UBE2s and suggest the possibility of their use as therapeutic targets for cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.156-156
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• 2023

Salinity is a major abiotic stress that limits rice productivity in many regions of the world. In order to develop salt stress tolerant rice plants, genetic engineering is a promising approach. We characterized the molecular function of rice C3H2C3 as a really interesting new gene (RING). Oryza sativa RING finger protein H2-3 (OsRFPH2-3) was highly expressed in 100 mM NaCl. To identify the localization of OsRFPH2-3, we fused vectors that include C-terminal GFP protein (35S;;OsRFPH2-3-GFP). OsRFPH2-3 was expressed in the nucleus in rice protoplasts. An in vitro ubiquitin assay demonstrated that OsRFPH2-3 possessed E3-ubiquitin ligase activity. However, the mutated OsRFPH2-3 were not possessed any E3-ubiquitin ligase activity. Under salinity conditions, OsRFPH2-3-overexpressing plants exhibited higher chlorophyll, proline, SOD, POD, CAT, and soluble sugar contents and lower H₂O₂ accumulation than wild-type plants, supporting transgenic plants with enhanced salinity tolerance phenotypes. OsRFPH2-3-overexpressing plants exhibited low Na+ accumulation and Na+/K+ ratios in their roots. Theses results suggest that overexpression of OsRFPH2-3 can make plant insensitivity about salinity conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.189-189
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• 2022

Soil salinity negatively affects plant growth, productivity, and metabolism. Rice is known to have more sensitive phenotypes than other cereal crops, such as wheat, sorghum, and barley. We characterized the molecular function of rice C3HC4 as a really interesting new gene (RING). Oryza sativa RING finger protein H2-3 (OsRFPH2-3) was highly expressed in 100 mM NaCl. To identify the localization of OsRFPH2-3, we fused vectors that include C-terminal GFP protein (35S;;OsRFPH2-3-GFP). OsRFPH2-3 was expressed in the nucleus in rice protoplasts. An in vitro ubiquitin assay demonstrated that OsRFPH2-3 possessed E3-ubiquitin ligase activity. However, the mutated OsRFPH2-3 were not possessed any E3-ubiquitin ligase activity. Under normal conditions, there is no significant phenotypic difference between transgenic plants and WT plants. However, OsRFPH2-3-overexpressing plants exhibited higher fresh weight and length under saline conditions. Also, transgenic plants maintain higher chlorophyll, proline, and soluble sugar contents and lower H₂O₂ and MDA contents than the wild type; these results support transgenic plants with enhanced salinity tolerance phenotypes.