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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 13, 8357-8364, March 31, 2006

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SUMO-1 Controls the Protein Stability and the Biological Function of Phosducin^*

From the Institute of Pharmacology, University of Würzburg, Versbacher Strasse 9, D-97078 Würzburg, Germany

Phosducin regulates G-stimulated signaling by binding to G subunits of heterotrimeric G-proteins. Control of phosducin activity by phosphorylation is well established. However, little is known about other mechanisms that may control phosducin activity. Here we report that phosducin is regulated at the posttranslational level by modification with the small ubiquitin-related modifier, SUMO. We demonstrate modification with SUMO for phosducin in vitro expressed in cells and for native phosducin purified from retina and the heart. A consensus motif for SUMOylation was identified in phosducin at amino acid positions 32–35. Mutation of the conserved lysine 33 to arginine in this motif abolished SUMOylation of phosducin, indicating that SUMO is attached to lysine 33 of phosducin. In transfected cells the steady-state levels of the K33R mutant protein were much lower compared with wild-type phosducin. The investigation of the stability of wild-type phosducin and of phosducin^K33R showed a decreased protein stability of the SUMOylation-deficient mutant. The decreased protein stability correlated with increased ubiquitinylation of the SUMOylation-deficient mutant. These findings indicate that SUMOylation protects phosducin from proteasomal degradation. SUMOylation of phosducin decreased its ability to bind G. PhlP, a closely related member of the phosducin family, was not a target for SUMOylation, but its SUMOylation can be achieved by a single amino acid insertion in the conserved N terminus of PhlP. Together, these findings show that phosducin is a previously unrecognized target of SUMO modification and that SUMOylation controls phosducin stability in cells as well as its functional properties.

Received for publication, December 23, 2005

^* These studies were supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Leibniz Award) and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (to M. J. L.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Figs. S1 and S2.

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 49-931-201-48401; Fax: 49-931-201-48411; E-mail: lohse{at}toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de.

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