Phosphorylation and activation of ubiquitin-specific protease-14 by Akt regulates the ubiquitin-proteasome system

  1. Daichao Xu
  2. Bing Shan
  3. Byung-Hoon Lee
  4. Kezhou Zhu
  5. Tao Zhang
  6. Huawang Sun
  7. Min Liu
  8. Linyu Shi
  9. Wei Liang
  10. Lihui Qian
  11. Juan Xiao
  12. Lili Wang
  13. Lifeng Pan
  14. Daniel Finley
  15. Junying Yuan  Is a corresponding author
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
  2. Harvard Medical School, United States
  3. Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, China

Abstract

Regulation of ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), which controls the turnover of short-lived proteins in eukaryotic cells, is critical in maintaining cellular proteostasis. Here we show that USP14, a major deubiquitinating enzyme that regulates the UPS, is a substrate of Akt, a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase critical in mediating intracellular signaling transducer for growth factors. We report that Akt-mediated phosphorylation of USP14 at Ser432, which normally blocks its catalytic site in the inactive conformation, activates its deubiquitinating activity in vitro and in cells. We also demonstrate that phosphorylation of USP14 is critical for Akt to regulate proteasome activity and consequently global protein degradation. Since Akt can be activated by a wide range of growth factors and is under negative control by phosphoinosotide phosphatase PTEN, we suggest that regulation of UPS by Akt-mediated phosphorylation of USP14 may provide a common mechanism for growth factors to control global proteostasis and for promoting tumorigenesis in PTEN-negative cancer cells.

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Author details

  1. Daichao Xu

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Bing Shan

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Byung-Hoon Lee

    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Kezhou Zhu

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Tao Zhang

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Huawang Sun

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Min Liu

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Linyu Shi

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Wei Liang

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  10. Lihui Qian

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  11. Juan Xiao

    Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  12. Lili Wang

    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  13. Lifeng Pan

    State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Products Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  14. Daniel Finley

    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  15. Junying Yuan

    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
    For correspondence
    jyuan@hms.harvard.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Copyright

© 2015, Xu et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Daichao Xu
  2. Bing Shan
  3. Byung-Hoon Lee
  4. Kezhou Zhu
  5. Tao Zhang
  6. Huawang Sun
  7. Min Liu
  8. Linyu Shi
  9. Wei Liang
  10. Lihui Qian
  11. Juan Xiao
  12. Lili Wang
  13. Lifeng Pan
  14. Daniel Finley
  15. Junying Yuan
(2015)
Phosphorylation and activation of ubiquitin-specific protease-14 by Akt regulates the ubiquitin-proteasome system
eLife 4:e10510.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10510

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https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10510