Unlike ubiquitin ligases, few E3 SUMO ligases have been identified. This modified in vitro SUMOylation protocol is able to identify novel SUMO E3 ligases by an in vitro reconstitution assay.
Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) modification is an important post-translational modification (PTM) that mediates signal transduction primarily through modulating protein-protein interactions. Similar to ubiquitin modification, SUMOylation is directed by a sequential enzyme cascade including E1-activating enzyme (SAE1/SAE2), E2-conjugation enzyme (Ubc9), and E3-ligase (i.e., PIAS family, RanBP2, and Pc2). However, different from ubiquitination, an E3 ligase is non-essential for the reaction but does provide precision and efficacy for SUMO conjugation. Proteins modified by SUMOylation can be identified by in vivo assay via immunoprecipitation with substrate-specific antibodies and immunoblotting with SUMO-specific antibodies. However, the demonstration of protein SUMO E3 ligase activity requires in vitro reconstitution of SUMOylation assays using purified enzymes, substrate, and SUMO proteins. Since in the in vitro reactions, usually SAE1/SAE2 and Ubc9, alone are sufficient for SUMO conjugation, enhancement of SUMOylation by a putative E3 ligase is not always easy to detect. Here, we describe a modified in vitro SUMOylation protocol that consistently identifies SUMO modification using an in vitro reconstituted system. A step-by-step protocol to purify catalytically active K-bZIP, a viral SUMO-2/3 E3 ligase, is also presented. The SUMOylation activities of the purified K-bZIP are shown on p53, a well-known target of SUMO. This protocol can not only be employed for elucidating novel SUMO E3 ligases, but also for revealing their SUMO paralog specificity.
SUMO modification was initially identified as a reversible post-translational modification (PTM) that regulates protein stability1. In addition to direct conjugation, SUMO can also be attached to a protein through non-covalent interaction by SUMO interaction motifs (SIMs)2. Similar to the binding of tyrosyl-phosphorylation by molecules harboring Src homology 2 (SH2) or phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domains3,4, SUMO modification provides an additional interaction platform for selective recruitment of SIM-containing effector proteins5,6. In addition to regulation of signal transduction, SUMOylation of transcriptional factors and chromatin remodeling molecules serve to modulate gene expression7,8. Studies of genome-wide SUMOylation patterns have revealed that SUMO modification is associated with either positive9,10 or negative10,11,12 transcription regulation, in part due to the paralogue specificity of SUMOylation.
There are three major SUMO isoforms for protein conjugating present in mammalian cells; these include SUMO-1, and the highly homologous SUMO-2 and SUMO-3 (referred to as SUMO-2/3)13. SUMO is usually conjugated to the lysine (K) residue within the ψKxD/E consensus motif in the target protein. The SIM in SUMO E3 ligases is responsible for the paralogue specificity14. In contrast to ubiquitination pathways containing hundreds of E3 ligases, there have only been a few SUMO E3 ligases identified15. SUMO E3 ligases are defined by properties including their ability to (i) bind Ubc9, (ii) bind SUMO moiety via a SIM domain, and (iii) enhance SUMO transfer from Ubc9 onto substrate. E3 ligase is not absolutely required for SUMO conjugation16, but provides substrate and SUMO-paralogue specificity. Since usually only a small fraction of the total substrate protein is SUMO-modified, detection of SUMOylated proteins in vivo is always a challenge. Therefore, accurate and reproducible assays are needed in order to elucidate the precise function of SUMO modification.
The in vitro SUMOylation assay, which evaluates the ability of purified Ubc9 to catalyze SUMOylation of substrate proteins, is a well-accepted assay for studying SUMO modification17. However, SUMO E3 ligase activity in most cases cannot be detected or can only be detected with mutated SUMO ligase with high SUMO E3 ligase activity and low substrate specificity by the standard protocol because of the presence of an abundant amount of Ubc918. The overall success of this assay largely depends upon the careful titration of purified Ubc9. The in vitro SUMOylation assay described here is modified from a standard SUMOylation protocol (see Table of Materials). The observation of increased global SUMO modification during Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) reactivation prompted us to identify the viral SUMO E3 ligase that may be responsible for the up-regulation of SUMOylation. Following a small-scale screening of the interacting proteins of viral SUMO E3 ligase K-bZIP, p53 was identified as a novel substrate. In this protocol, we show in detail in insect cells the steps involved in the expression and purification of wild-type K-bZIP, a viral SUMO E3 ligase with SUMO-2/3 specificity. The ability of the purified K-bZIP to enhance SUMOylation of p53, a well-known SUMO substrate, is evaluated in the presence of reduced amounts of E1 and E2 enzymes. Using this modified SUMOylation assay, researchers can reliably define the abilities of SUMO E3 ligase to SUMOylate novel or known substrates, which is a primary step in the study of protein SUMOylation. Moreover, this method helps identify novel SUMO E3 ligases with low ligase activity but high substrate specificity.
1. Preparation of Baculovirus Expression Constructs
2. Purification of K-bZIP
3. SUMOylation Assay
According to the information provided by the manufacturer, the standard amount of E1 and E2 enzyme in the SUMOylation assay is 50 nM and 500 nM, respectively. The minimal amount of E2 conjugating enzyme Ubc9 that is able to SUMOylate p53 was first determined by an in vitro SUMOylation assay. As low as one-fifth of the amount of Ubc9 used in the standard in vitro SUMOylation assay protocol was able to efficiently SUMOylate p53 (Figure 1A). Therefore, half of the amount of E1 enzyme in combination with one-tenth of the amount of Ubc9 used in the standard protocol was used for another in vitro SUMOylation assay. A significant reduction of SUMOylation efficiency was observed as compared with standard protocol (Figure 1B).
Thus, the ability of SUMO E3 ligase K-bZIP to enhance p53 SUMOylation was determined using these modified in vitro SUMOylation conditions. Tagged K-bZIP purified from Sf9 cells (Figure 2A) was employed in a SUMOylation reaction containing lower amounts of E1 and E2 Ubc9 enzymes. Under these modified conditions, K-bZIP could efficiently catalyze the SUMOylation of p53 (Figure 2B). Immunoblotting with anti-p53 antibody confirmed the similar total amounts of p53 in each reaction, and also detected SUMO modified p53.
Figure 1: Determination of the minimal amount of SUMO enzymes used in the in vitro SUMOylation assay. (A) p53 SUMOylation was evaluated in an in vitro SUMOylation assay that included one half and one fifth the amount of Ubc9 enzyme used in standard protocol. After 3 hours of in vitro SUMOylation reaction, SUMOylated p53 enzymes were examined by Western blot with anti-p53 antibody. (B) In vitro SUMOylation of p53 was further analyzed by using half the amount of E1 enzyme in combination with one-tenth the amount of Ubc9 used in the standard protocol. A Western blot was performed as described as in (A). Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Enhancement of p53 SUMOylation by SUMO E3 ligase K-bZIP. (A) Purified baculovirus-expressed K-bZIP protein, analyzed by SDS-PAGE followed with Coomassie blue staining. 1 µg BSA and 10 µL purified K-bZIP were loading for comparative the protein quantity. (B) K-bZIP enhanced p53 SUMOylation was evaluated by using an in vitro SUMOylation reaction with half the amount of E1 enzyme and one tenth the amount of Ubc9 recommend in the standard protocol. SUMOylated p53 were investigated by Western blot as described in Figure 1A. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
The in vitro SUMOylation protocol described here is routinely used to establish the SUMOylation status of identified Ubc9 substrates. The major limitation using the standard protocol to study the SUMOylation function of SUMO E3 ligase is the abundance of SUMO E1 activating and E2 conjugating enzymes Ubc9 that maximize the SUMO conjugation in in vitro systems. Considering this challenge, we believe that titration of the amount of SUMO E1 and E2 enzymes to the level that one can barely detect their activity in SUMOylation is the only way available to determine SUMO E3 ligase catalytic activities using this in vitro SUMOylation system. Following this hypothesis, we successfully elucidated the E3 ligase activity of K-bZIP and identified it as a novel SUMO E3 ligase with specificity towards SUMO-2/3.
The critical step within the protocol is the incorporation of lower amounts of E1 and E2. Using these lower amounts, as shown in Figure 2, novel SUMO E3 ligases with low ligase activity may be able to be identified with preservation of their specificity towards substrate and SUMO paralogues. A major limitation of the technique is the requirement for a high-quality antibody recognizing the SUMO substrate, since only a very small proportion of the substrate can be SUMO modified.
Though many proteins show the potential to increase SUMOylation after overexpression in vivo, defining a SUMO E3 ligase must be demonstrated by a reconstituted in vitro SUMOylation system using purified E1, E2, and E3 enzymes. As opposed to the hundreds and perhaps thousands of ubiquitin E3 ligases identified, until now only a few SUMO E3 ligases have been found. This may be due in part to the use of the traditional standard in vitro SUMOylation assay which maximizes SUMO conjugation efficiency and consequently hinders the SUMOylation function of potential SUMO E3 ligases. The present protocol describes a simple and consistent assay to probe SUMOylation enhanced by a SUMO E3 ligase. The described method is essential for the identification and characterization of novel SUMO E3 ligases.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST, 105-2320-B-010-007-MY3 to PCC), from the National Health Research Institute (NHRI-EX105-10215BC to PCC), from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 105-2314-B-400-019 to HJK) and from the National Health Research Institute (NHRI MG-105-SP-10, NHRI MG-106-SP-10 to HJK). This work was also supported partly with National Yang-Ming University on manuscript publication to PCC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or reparation of the manuscript.
pFastBac | Invitrogen | 10359-016 | dual expression baculovirus vector |
pCR2.1-TOPO vector | Invitrogen | PCR product vector | |
competent cell E. coli DH5α | Yeastern Biotech | FYE678-80VL | competent E. coli cells A |
E. coli DH10Bac | Invitrogen | 10359-016 | competent E. coli cells B |
FugeneHD | Roche | 04709705001 | transfection reagent |
Opti-MEM | Gibco | 31985062 | reduced serum media |
T4 Ligase | NEW England BioLabs | M0202S | |
CpoI (RsrII) | Thermo Scientific | ER0741 | |
Bluo-gal | Thermo Scientific | B1690 | galactosidase substrate |
IPTG | Sigma-Aldrich | I6758-1G | |
Grace’s Insect Medium | Gibco | 11605094 | |
Fetal Bovine Serum | Gibco | 10082147 | |
Gentamicin | Thermo Fisher | 15750060 | |
Ampicillin | Sigma-Aldrich | A9393-25G | |
Kanamycin | Sigma-Aldrich | K0254-20ML | |
gentamicin | Gibco | 15710-064 | |
tetracyclin | Sigma-Aldrich | 87128-25G | |
LB Broth | Merk | 1.10285.0500 | |
HEPES | Sigma-Aldrich | H4034-100G | |
NaCl | Sigma-Aldrich | S9888-5KG | |
KCl | Merk | 1.04936.1000 | |
Na2HPO4 | Sigma-Aldrich | S5136-500G | |
KH2PO4 | J.T.Baker | 3246-01 | |
sodium dodecyl sulfate | Merk | 1.13760.1000 | |
β-mercaptoethanol | Bio-Rad | 161-0710 | |
TRIS (Base) | J.T.Baker | 4109-06 | |
Non-fat milk | Fonterra | ||
glycerol | J.T.Baker | 2136-01 | |
Triton X-100 | Amresco | 0694-1L | detergent A |
Tween 20 | Amresco | 0777-500ML | detergent B |
Poloxamer 188 solution | Sigma-Aldrich | P5556-100ML | detergent C |
Protease Inhibitor Cocktail Tablet | Roche | 04 693 132 001 | |
3x Flag peptide | Sigma | F4799 | |
anti-FLAG m2 Magnetic beads | Sigma-Aldrich | M8823 | antibody-tagged magnetic beads |
SUMOlink SUMO-1 Kit | Active Motif | 40120 | standard SUMOylation protocol |
SUMOlink SUMO-2/3 Kit | Active Motif | 40220 | standard SUMOylation protocol |
QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit | QIAGEN | 28704 | |
QIAGEN Plasmid Mini Kit | QIAGEN | 12123 | plasmid extraction kit |
Polypropylene tubes | Falcon | 352059 | |
Petri Dish | Falcon | 351029 | |
Cell lifter | Corning | CNG3008 | |
Loading tip | Sorenson BioScience | 28480 | |
PVDF | PerkinElmer | NEF1002 | |
Blotting filter paper | Bio-Rad | 1703932 | |
Mini slab gel apparatus (Bio-Rad Mini Protean II Cell) | Bio-Rad | 1658001 EDU | |
Trans-Blot SD Semi-Dry Electrophoretic Transfer Cell | Bio-Rad | 1703940 | |
Pierce ECL Western Blotting | Thermo | 32106 | ECL reagent |
suspension mixer | Digisystem laboratory instruments Inc. | SM-3000 | |
orbital shaker | Kansin instruments Co. | OS701 | |
ImageQuant LAS 4000 biomolecular imager |
GE Healthcare | 28955810 | |
Sf9 | Thermo Scientific | B82501 | |
anti-p53 antibody | Cell Signaling | #9282 | |
anti-rabbit antibody | GE Healthcare | NA934-1ML |