Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases

Abstract Protein degradation orchestrated by SKP1·CUL1·F-box protein (SCF) ubiquitin ligases is a fundamental process essential for cellular and organismal function. The dynamic assembly of SCFs, facilitated by CAND1, ensures timely ubiquitination of diverse SCF target proteins. As a homolog of CAND...

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Main Authors: Kankan Wang, Lihong Li, Sebastian Kenny, Dailin Gan, Justin M. Reitsma, Yun Zhou, Chittaranjan Das, Xing Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-02-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57065-5
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author Kankan Wang
Lihong Li
Sebastian Kenny
Dailin Gan
Justin M. Reitsma
Yun Zhou
Chittaranjan Das
Xing Liu
author_facet Kankan Wang
Lihong Li
Sebastian Kenny
Dailin Gan
Justin M. Reitsma
Yun Zhou
Chittaranjan Das
Xing Liu
author_sort Kankan Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Protein degradation orchestrated by SKP1·CUL1·F-box protein (SCF) ubiquitin ligases is a fundamental process essential for cellular and organismal function. The dynamic assembly of SCFs, facilitated by CAND1, ensures timely ubiquitination of diverse SCF target proteins. As a homolog of CAND1, CAND2 alone has been implicated in various human diseases, yet its functional mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we investigate the role of CAND2 in human cells and its distinct mode of action compared to CAND1. Using an array of quantitative assays, we demonstrate that CAND2 promotes SCF-mediated protein degradation as an F-box protein exchange factor. While CAND2 binds CUL1 with structure and affinity comparable to CAND1, it exhibits lower efficiency in exchanging F-box proteins. Kinetic measurements reveal a significantly higher K M for CAND2-catalyzed SCF disassembly than CAND1, which explains the lower exchange efficiency of CAND2 and is likely due to conformations of the CAND2·SCF exchange intermediate complex being less favorable for F-box protein dissociation. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the biochemical and structural properties of CAND2, as well as its role in regulating cellular dynamics of SCFs, laying a foundation for understanding contributions of CAND2 to healthy and diseased human cells.
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spelling doaj-art-b7deb76eb1884ac2af4cf7718c72dd412025-08-20T03:03:50ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-02-0116111710.1038/s41467-025-57065-5Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligasesKankan Wang0Lihong Li1Sebastian Kenny2Dailin Gan3Justin M. Reitsma4Yun Zhou5Chittaranjan Das6Xing Liu7Department of Biochemistry, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Biochemistry, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre DameDivision of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of TechnologyCenter for Plant Biology, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Biochemistry, Purdue UniversityAbstract Protein degradation orchestrated by SKP1·CUL1·F-box protein (SCF) ubiquitin ligases is a fundamental process essential for cellular and organismal function. The dynamic assembly of SCFs, facilitated by CAND1, ensures timely ubiquitination of diverse SCF target proteins. As a homolog of CAND1, CAND2 alone has been implicated in various human diseases, yet its functional mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we investigate the role of CAND2 in human cells and its distinct mode of action compared to CAND1. Using an array of quantitative assays, we demonstrate that CAND2 promotes SCF-mediated protein degradation as an F-box protein exchange factor. While CAND2 binds CUL1 with structure and affinity comparable to CAND1, it exhibits lower efficiency in exchanging F-box proteins. Kinetic measurements reveal a significantly higher K M for CAND2-catalyzed SCF disassembly than CAND1, which explains the lower exchange efficiency of CAND2 and is likely due to conformations of the CAND2·SCF exchange intermediate complex being less favorable for F-box protein dissociation. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the biochemical and structural properties of CAND2, as well as its role in regulating cellular dynamics of SCFs, laying a foundation for understanding contributions of CAND2 to healthy and diseased human cells.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57065-5
spellingShingle Kankan Wang
Lihong Li
Sebastian Kenny
Dailin Gan
Justin M. Reitsma
Yun Zhou
Chittaranjan Das
Xing Liu
Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases
Nature Communications
title Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases
title_full Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases
title_fullStr Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases
title_full_unstemmed Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases
title_short Molecular mechanisms of CAND2 in regulating SCF ubiquitin ligases
title_sort molecular mechanisms of cand2 in regulating scf ubiquitin ligases
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57065-5
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