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Signal peptide peptidase is required for dislocation from the endoplasmic reticulum

Nature volume 441, pages 894–897 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) prevents the display of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) peptide complexes at the surface of infected cells as a means of escaping immune detection1. Two HCMV-encoded immunoevasins, US2 and US11, induce the dislocation of class I MHC heavy chains from the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and target them for proteasomal degradation in the cytosol2,3. Although the outcome of the dislocation reactions catalysed is similar, US2 and US11 operate differently: Derlin-1 is a key component of the US11 but not the US2 pathway4. So far, proteins essential for US2-dependent dislocation have not been identified. Here we compare interacting partners of wild-type US2 with those of a dislocation-incompetent US2 mutant, and identify signal peptide peptidase (SPP) as a partner for the active form of US2. We show that a decrease in SPP levels by RNA-mediated interference inhibits heavy-chain dislocation by US2 but not by US11. Our data implicate SPP in the US2 pathway and indicate the possibility of a previously unknown function for this intramembrane-cleaving aspartic protease in dislocation from the endoplasmic reticulum.

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Figure 1: Characterization of constructs used for a functional screen for US2-associated proteins.
Figure 2: SPP associates with the US2 cytosolic tail and is required for HC dislocation.
Figure 3: The SPP-dependent ER dislocation pathway co-opted by US2 is distinct from that used by US11.
Figure 4: US2-mediated dislocation requires US2 tail-dependent SPP recruitment and additional US2 TMD-dependent interactions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. High for reagents, A. Weihofen and M. Wolfe for technical advice and insight, A. Weihofen and M. Lemberg for critical reading of the manuscript, T. DiCesare for Fig. 4c, and members of the Ploegh laboratory for discussions. J.L. is a Gulbenkian PhD Program Fellow with a grant from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). B.N.L. was supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship. This work was supported by grants from the NIH to H.L.P. Author Contributions B.N.L. designed the HA-US2 and HA-US2186 constructs, supplied the retroviral supernatants for transduction of astrocytoma cells and provided critical reading of the manuscript. V.N. and D.T. designed and supplied the untagged US2-CD4-US2 cDNA. All other constructs were designed by J.L. Mass spectrometry analysis was performed by E.S. All experiments were designed and performed by J.L. Data analysis, interpretation and writing of the manuscript were by J.L. and H.L.P.

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Author notes

  1. Joana Loureiro, Eric Spooner & Hidde L. Ploegh

    Present address: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142, USA

  2. Brendan N. Lilley

    Present address: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology,

    Joana Loureiro, Brendan N. Lilley & Hidde L. Ploegh

  2. Pathology Functional Proteomics Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Eric Spooner

  3. Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, 10021, USA

    Vanessa Noriega & Domenico Tortorella

  4. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142, USA

    Brendan N. Lilley

  5. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    Joana Loureiro, Eric Spooner & Hidde L. Ploegh

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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hidde L. Ploegh.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Figure 1

Both Kbss-HA-TEV-tagged US2 constructs are targeted to the ER membrane and associate with heavy chains. (JPG 273 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

Large-scale affinity purification of US2 and US2-associated proteins from U373-MG control cells (-) or cells expressing HA-TEV-US2 or HA-TEV-US2186. (JPG 338 kb)

Supplementary Figure 3

Mismatch of the SPP.1 shRNA sequence ablates its SPP knockdown effect and confirms RNAi specificity. (JPG 152 kb)

Supplementary Figure 4

Aminoacid sequences of wild type untagged US2 and all HA-tagged US2 constructs used in these studies. (JPG 788 kb)

Supplementary Figure 5

The US2 TMD is dispensable for association with HC. (JPG 257 kb)

Supplementary Figure 6

Both monomeric and dimeric forms of SPP are observed in association with dislocation-competent US2; however the ratio of SDS-stable SPP dimer/monomer is dependent on the treatment of samples before loading on the gel. (JPG 330 kb)

Supplementary Figure Legends

This file contains text to accompany the above Supplementary Figures. (DOC 37 kb)

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Loureiro, J., Lilley, B., Spooner, E. et al. Signal peptide peptidase is required for dislocation from the endoplasmic reticulum. Nature 441, 894–897 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04830

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