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Nam S, Min K, Hwang H, Lee HO, Lee JH, Yoon J, Lee H, Park S, Lee J. Control of rapsyn stability by the CUL-3-containing E3 ligase complex. J Biol Chem 2009; 284:8195-206. [PMID: 19158078 PMCID: PMC3282941 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m808230200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2008] [Revised: 01/13/2009] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapsyn is a postsynaptic protein required for clustering of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) at the neuromuscular junction. Here we report the mechanism for posttranslational control of rapsyn protein stability. We confirmed that C18H9.7-encoded RPY-1 is a rapsyn homolog in Caenorhabditis elegans by showing that human rapsyn rescued rpy-1 mutant phenotypes in nematodes, as determined by levamisole assays and micropost array behavioral assays. We found that RPY-1 was degraded in the absence of functional UNC-29, a non-alpha subunit of the receptor, in an allele-specific manner, but not in the absence of other receptor subunits. The cytoplasmic loop of UNC-29 was found to be critical for RPY-1 stability. Through RNA interference screening, we found that UBC-1, UBC-12, NEDD-8, and RBX-1 were required for degradation of RPY-1. We identified cullin (CUL)-3 as a component of E3 ligase and KEL-8 as the substrate adaptor of RPY-1. Mammalian rapsyn was ubiquitinated by the CUL3/KLHL8-containing E3 ligase in vitro, and the knockdown of KLHL-8, a mammalian KEL-8 homolog, inhibited rapsyn ubiquitination in vivo, implying evolutionary conservation of the rapsyn stability control machinery. kel-8 suppression and rpy-1 overexpression in C. elegans produced a phenotype similar to that of a loss-of-function mutation of rpy-1, suggesting that control of rapsyn abundance is important for proper function of the receptor. Our results suggest a link between the control of rapsyn abundance and congenital myasthenic syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seunghee Nam
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Kyoengwoo Min
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Hyejin Hwang
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Hae-ock Lee
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Jung Hwa Lee
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Jongbok Yoon
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Hyunsook Lee
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Sungsu Park
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
| | - Junho Lee
- Research Center for
Cellulomics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Biological
Sciences, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, Korea, the
Division of Nano Sciences (BK21),
Ewha Womans University, 120-750 Seoul, Korea,
Protein Network Research Center,
Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon, 120-749 Seoul,
Korea
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Brockhausen J, Cole RN, Gervásio OL, Ngo ST, Noakes PG, Phillips WD. Neural agrin increases postsynaptic ACh receptor packing by elevating rapsyn protein at the mouse neuromuscular synapse. Dev Neurobiol 2008; 68:1153-69. [PMID: 18506821 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.20654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments at neuromuscular junctions in the mouse tibialis anterior muscle show that postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) become more tightly packed during the first month of postnatal development. Here, we report that the packing of AChRs into postsynaptic aggregates was reduced in 4-week postnatal mice that had reduced amounts of the AChR-associated protein, rapsyn, in the postsynaptic membrane (rapsyn(+/-) mice). We hypothesize that nerve-derived agrin increases postsynaptic expression and targeting of rapsyn, which then drives the developmental increase in AChR packing. Neural agrin treatment elevated the expression of rapsyn in C2 myotubes by a mechanism that involved slowing of rapsyn protein degradation. Similarly, exposure of synapses in postnatal muscle to exogenous agrin increased rapsyn protein levels and elevated the intensity of anti-rapsyn immunofluorescence, relative to AChR, in the postsynaptic membrane. This increase in the rapsyn-to-AChR immunofluorescence ratio was associated with tighter postsynaptic AChR packing and slowed AChR turnover. Acute blockade of synaptic AChRs with alpha-bungarotoxin lowered the rapsyn-to-AChR immunofluorescence ratio, suggesting that AChR signaling also helps regulate the assembly of extra rapsyn in the postsynaptic membrane. The results suggest that at the postnatal neuromuscular synapse agrin signaling elevates the expression and targeting of rapsyn to the postsynaptic membrane, thereby packing more AChRs into stable, functionally-important AChR aggregates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Brockhausen
- School of Medical Sciences (Physiology), Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Huebsch KA, Maimone MM. Rapsyn-mediated clustering of acetylcholine receptor subunits requires the major cytoplasmic loop of the receptor subunits. JOURNAL OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2003; 54:486-501. [PMID: 12532399 DOI: 10.1002/neu.10177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
During synaptogenesis at the neuromuscular junction, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) are organized into high-density postsynaptic clusters that are critical for efficient synaptic transmission. Rapsyn, an AChR associated cytoplasmic protein, is essential for the aggregation and immobilization of AChRs at the neuromuscular junction. Previous studies have shown that when expressed in nonmuscle cells, both assembled and unassembled AChR subunits are clustered by rapsyn, and the clustering of the alpha subunit is dependent on its major cytoplasmic loop. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of rapsyn-induced clustering of the AChR beta, gamma, and delta subunits by testing mutant subunits for the ability to cocluster with rapsyn in transfected QT6 cells. For each subunit, deletion of the major cytoplasmic loop, between the third and fourth transmembrane domains, dramatically reduced coclustering with rapsyn. Furthermore, each major cytoplasmic loop was sufficient to mediate clustering of an unrelated transmembrane protein. The AChR subunit mutants lacking the major cytoplasmic loops could assemble into alphadelta dimers, but these were poorly clustered by rapsyn unless at least one mutant was replaced with its wild-type counterpart. These results demonstrate that the major cytoplasmic loop of each AChR subunit is both necessary and sufficient for mediating efficient clustering by rapsyn, and that only one such domain is required for rapsyn-mediated clustering of an assembly intermediate, the alphadelta dimer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly A Huebsch
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, New York 13210, USA
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