SUMOylation of the nuclear pore complex basket is involved in sensing cellular stresses

• DOI: 10.1242/jcs.224279
• Publication Date: 2019-03-05T16:56:39Z
• Authors: Hanne Folz; Carlos A. Niño; Surayya Taranum; Stefanie Caesar; Lorenz Latta; François Waharte; Jean Salamero; Gabriel Schlenstedt; Catherine Dargemont
• Keywords: Osmotic stress; 0301 basic medicine; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; DNA Repair; Active Transport, Cell Nucleus; Sumoylation; [SDV.BC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Cellular Biology; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Nuclear pore complex; Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins; Cysteine Endopeptidases; 03 medical and health sciences; SUMO; Genotoxic stress; Nuclear Pore; Nuclear basket; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Research Article

ABSTRACT The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the major conduit for nucleocytoplasmic transport and serves as a platform for gene regulation and DNA repair. Several nucleoporins undergo ubiquitylation and SUMOylation, and these modifications play an important role in nuclear pore dynamics and plasticity. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of these post-translational modifications of yeast nuclear basket proteins under normal growth conditions as well as upon cellular stresses, with a focus on SUMOylation. We find that the balance between the dynamics of SUMOylation and deSUMOylation of Nup60 and Nup2 at the NPC differs substantially, particularly in G1 and S phase. While Nup60 is the unique target of genotoxic stress within the nuclear basket that probably belongs to the SUMO-mediated DNA damage response pathway, both Nup2 and Nup60 show a dramatic increase in SUMOylation upon osmotic stress, with Nup2 SUMOylation being enhanced in Nup60 SUMO-deficient mutant yeast strains. Taken together, our data reveal that there are several levels of crosstalk between nucleoporins, and that the post-translational modifications of the NPC serve in sensing cellular stress signals.