Co-morbidity of complex genetic disorders and hypersomnias of central origin: lessons from the underlying neurobiology of wake and sleep

A MAGEL2-deubiquitinase complex modulates the ubiquitination of circadian rhythm protein CRY1

MAGEL2 encodes the L2 member of the MAGE (melanoma antigen) protein family. Protein truncating mutations in MAGEL2 cause Schaaf-Yang syndrome, and MAGEL2 is one of a small set of genes deleted in Prader-Willi syndrome. Excessive daytime sleepiness, night-time or early morning waking, and narcoleptic symptoms are seen in people with Prader-Willi syndrome and Schaaf-Yang syndrome, while mice carrying a gene-targeted Magel2 deletion have disrupted circadian rhythms. These phenotypes suggest that MAGEL2 is important for the robustness of the circadian rhythm. However, a cellular role for MAGEL2 has yet to be elucidated. MAGEL2 influences the ubiquitination of substrate proteins to target them for further modification or to alter their stability through proteasomal degradation pathways. Here, we characterized relationships among MAGEL2 and proteins that regulate circadian rhythm. The effect of MAGEL2 on the key circadian rhythm protein cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) was assessed using in vivo proximity labelling (BioID), immunofluorescence microscopy and ubiquitination assays. We demonstrate that MAGEL2 modulates the ubiquitination of CRY1. Further studies will clarify the cellular role MAGEL2 normally plays in circadian rhythm, in part through ubiquitination and regulation of stability of the CRY1 protein.