A nuclear ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway targets inner nuclear membrane protein Asi2 for degradation

Abstract

The nuclear envelope consists of inner and outer nuclear membranes. While the outer membrane is an extension of the endoplasmic reticulum, the inner nuclear membrane represents a unique membranous environment containing specific proteins. The mechanisms of integral inner nuclear membrane protein degradation are unknown. Here we investigated the turnover of Asi2, an integral INM protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We report that Asi2 is degraded by the proteasome and independent of the vacuole exhibiting a half-life of ≈ 45 min. Asi2 exhibits enhanced stability in mutants lacking the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes Ubc6 or Ubc7, or the E3 ubiquitin ligase Doa10. Consistently, Asi2 is post-translationally modified by poly-ubiquitylation in a Ubc7- and Doa10-dependent manner. Importantly Asi2 degradation is significantly reduced in a sts1-2 mutant that fails to accumulate proteasomes in the nucleus, indicating that Asi2 is degraded in the nucleus. Our results reveal a molecular pathway that affects the stability of integral proteins of the inner nuclear membrane and indicate that Asi2 is subject to protein quality control in the nucleus.