Tabanifar B, Moorthy A, Tsai HH, Kannan S, Verma CS, Sabapathy K. JNK mediates cell death by promoting the ubiquitination of the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease APE1.
Cell Rep 2023;
42:113123. [PMID:
37703179 DOI:
10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113123]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinases (JNKs) regulate cell death, generally through the direct phosphorylation of both pro- and anti-apoptotic substrates. In this report, we demonstrate an alternate mechanism of JNK-mediated cell death involving the anti-apoptotic protein human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1). Treatment of cells with a variety of genotoxic stresses enhanced APE1-JNK (all isoforms of JNK1 or JNK2) interaction, specifically in cells undergoing apoptosis. Steady-state APE1 levels were decreased in these cells, in which APE1 is ubiquitinated and degraded in a JNK-dependent manner. Absence of JNKs reduced APE1 ubiquitination and increased its abundance. Mechanistically, the E3 ligase ITCH associates with both APE1 and JNK and is necessary for JNK-dependent APE1 ubiquitination and degradation. Structural models of the JNK-APE1 interaction support the observation of enhanced association of the complex in the presence of ubiquitin. The data together show a mechanism of JNK-mediated cell death by the degradation of APE1 through ITCH.
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