Regulated degradation of the inner nuclear membrane protein SUN2 maintains nuclear envelope architecture and function

Abstract

Nuclear architecture and functions depend on dynamic interactions between nuclear components (such as chromatin) and inner nuclear membrane (INM) proteins. Mutations in INM proteins interfering with these interactions result in disease. However, mechanisms controlling the levels and turnover of INM proteins remain unknown. Here, we describe a mechanism of regulated degradation of the INM SUN domain-containing protein 2 (SUN2). We show that Casein Kinase II and the C-terminal domain Nuclear Envelope Phosphatase 1 (CTDNEP1) have opposing effects on SUN2 levels by regulating SUN2 binding to the ubiquitin ligase Skp/Cullin1/F-BoxβTrCP (SCFβTrCP). Upon binding to phosphorylated SUN2, SCFβTrCP promotes its ubiquitination. Ubiquitinated SUN2 is membrane extracted by the AAA ATPase p97 and delivered to the proteasome for degradation. Importantly, accumulation of non-degradable SUN2 results in aberrant nuclear architecture, vulnerability to DNA damage and increased lagging chromosomes in mitosis. These findings uncover a central role of proteolysis in INM protein homeostasis.

Data availability

Sequencing data has been deposited European Nucleotide Archive repository and has the accession number PRJEB54102.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Logesvaran Krshnan

    Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6281-1587
  2. Wingyan Skyla Siu

    Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Michael Van de Weijer

    Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-0954-0228
  4. Daniel Hayward

    Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Elena Navarro Guerrero

    Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Ulrike Gruneberg

    Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Pedro Carvalho

    Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    pedro.carvalho@path.ox.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9691-5277

Funding

European Research Council (817708)

  • Pedro Carvalho

Wellcome Trust (223153/Z/21/Z)

  • Pedro Carvalho

Cancer Research UK Discovery Programme (DRCNPG-Nov21\100004)

  • Ulrike Gruneberg

Medical Research Council (MR/K006703/1)

  • Ulrike Gruneberg

Edward Penley Abraham Fund (RF 280)

  • Ulrike Gruneberg

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2022, Krshnan 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.

Metrics

  • 2,340
    views
  • 365
    downloads
  • 16
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Logesvaran Krshnan
  2. Wingyan Skyla Siu
  3. Michael Van de Weijer
  4. Daniel Hayward
  5. Elena Navarro Guerrero
  6. Ulrike Gruneberg
  7. Pedro Carvalho
(2022)
Regulated degradation of the inner nuclear membrane protein SUN2 maintains nuclear envelope architecture and function
eLife 11:e81573.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81573

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81573

Further reading

    1. Cell Biology
    Kaiqiang Zhao, Zhongjun Zhou
    Insight

    The accumulation of SIRT4 in the nuclei of kidney cells drives kidney fibrosis, so blocking the movement of this protein could be a potential therapeutic strategy against fibrosis.

    1. Cell Biology
    2. Developmental Biology
    Sarah Rubin, Ankit Agrawal ... Elazar Zelzer
    Research Article

    Chondrocyte columns, which are a hallmark of growth plate architecture, play a central role in bone elongation. Columns are formed by clonal expansion following rotation of the division plane, resulting in a stack of cells oriented parallel to the growth direction. In this work, we analyzed hundreds of Confetti multicolor clones in growth plates of mouse embryos using a pipeline comprising 3D imaging and algorithms for morphometric analysis. Surprisingly, analysis of the elevation angles between neighboring pairs of cells revealed that most cells did not display the typical stacking pattern associated with column formation, implying incomplete rotation of the division plane. Morphological analysis revealed that although embryonic clones were elongated, they formed clusters oriented perpendicular to the growth direction. Analysis of growth plates of postnatal mice revealed both complex columns, composed of ordered and disordered cell stacks, and small, disorganized clusters located in the outer edges. Finally, correlation between the temporal dynamics of the ratios between clusters and columns and between bone elongation and expansion suggests that clusters may promote expansion, whereas columns support elongation. Overall, our findings support the idea that modulations of division plane rotation of proliferating chondrocytes determines the formation of either clusters or columns, a multifunctional design that regulates morphogenesis throughout pre- and postnatal bone growth. Broadly, this work provides a new understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying growth plate activity and bone elongation during development.