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Identification of a C-terminal tripeptide motif involved in the control of rapid proteasomal degradation of c-Fos proto-oncoprotein during the G0-to-S phase transition

Oncogene volume 20, pages 7563–7572 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

c-Fos proto-oncoprotein is rapidly and transiently expressed in cells undergoing the G0-to-S phase transition in response to stimulation for growth by serum. Under these conditions, the rapid decay of the protein occurring after induction is accounted for by efficient recognition and degradation by the proteasome. PEST motifs are sequences rich in Pro, Glu, Asp, Ser and Thr which have been proposed to constitute protein instability determinants. c-Fos contains three such motifs, one of which comprises the C-terminal 20 amino acids and has already been proposed to be the major determinant of c-Fos instability. Using site-directed mutagenesis and an expression system reproducing c-fos gene transient expression in transfected cells, we have analysed the turnover of c-Fos mutants deleted of the various PEST sequences in synchronized mouse embryo fibroblasts. Our data showed no role for the two internal PEST motifs in c-Fos instability. However, deletion of the C-terminal PEST region led to only a twofold stabilization of the protein. Taken together, these data indicate that c-Fos instability during the G0-to-S phase transition is governed by a major non-PEST destabilizer and a C-terminal degradation-accelerating element. Further dissection of c-Fos C-terminal region showed that the degradation-accelerating effect is not contributed by the whole PEST sequence but by a short PTL tripeptide which cannot be considered as a PEST motif and which can act in the absence of any PEST environment. Interestingly, the PTL motif is conserved in other members of the fos multigene family. Nevertheless, its contribution to protein instability is restricted to c-Fos suggesting that the mechanisms whereby the various Fos proteins are broken down are, at least partially, different. MAP kinases-mediated phosphorylation of two serines close to PTL, which are both phosphorylated all over the G0-to-S phase transition, have been proposed by others to stabilize c-Fos protein significantly. We, however, showed that the PTL motif does not exert its effect by counteracting a stabilizing effect of these phosphorylations under our experimental conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Ligue contre le Cancer, the Association de Recherche contre le Cancer. We are grateful to Drs O Coux and I Robbins for fruitful discussion and critical reading of the manuscript.

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  1. Catherine Salvat

    Present address: ICMB, 2500 Speedway V.T., Austin, TX 78712–1095, Texas, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular Genetics, UMR5535/IFR24, CNRS, 1919, route de Mende, Montpellier, Cedex 05, 34293, France

    Claire Acquaviva, Frédérique Brockly, Patrizia Ferrara, Guillaume Bossis, Catherine Salvat, Isabelle Jariel-Encontre & Marc Piechaczyk

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Correspondence to Marc Piechaczyk.

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Acquaviva, C., Brockly, F., Ferrara, P. et al. Identification of a C-terminal tripeptide motif involved in the control of rapid proteasomal degradation of c-Fos proto-oncoprotein during the G0-to-S phase transition. Oncogene 20, 7563–7572 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1204880

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