Abstract

-catenin is a central component of the cadherin cell adhesion complex and plays an essential role in the Wingless/Wnt signaling pathway. In the current model of this pathway, the amount of -catenin (or its invertebrate homolog Armadillo) is tightly regulated and its steady-state level outside the cadherin–catenin complex is low in the absence of Wingless/Wnt signal. Here we show that the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis system is involved in the regulation of -catenin turnover. -catenin, but not E-cadherin, p120^cas or -catenin, becomes stabilized when proteasome-mediated proteolysis is inhibited and this leads to the accumulation of multi-ubiquitinated forms of -catenin. Mutagenesis experiments demonstrate that substitution of the serine residues in the glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) phosphorylation consensus motif of -catenin inhibits ubiquitination and results in stabilization of the protein. This motif in -catenin resembles a motif in IB (inhibitor of NFB) which is required for the phosphorylation-dependent degradation of IB via the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway. We show that ubiquitination of -catenin is greatly reduced in Wnt-expressing cells, providing the first evidence that the ubiquitin–proteasome degradation pathway may act downstream of GSK3 in the regulation of -catenin.