The poxvirus ubiquitin ligase p28 manipulates the ubiquitin proteasome system

Abstract

The significance of poxvirus manipulation of the host ubiquitin proteasome system has become increasingly apparent. Ubiquitin is post-translationally added to target proteins by a highly conserved enzymatic cascade, typically resulting in protein degradation via the 26S proteasome. The highly conserved poxvirus protein, p28, is a functional ubiquitin ligase and a critical virulence factor. Here, we investigate the relationship between p28 and ubiquitination. We observed that the KilA-N DNA binding domain in p28 targeted p28 to viral factories, where p28 co-localized with conjugated ubiquitin. Furthermore, we determined that p28 is highly regulated by ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Disruption of p28 ubiquitin ligase activity revealed that p28 is regulated through auto-ubiquitination and ubiquitination by an additional unknown ubiquitin ligase. Moreover, we observed Lysine-48 ubiquitin linkages, Lysine-63 ubiquitin linkages and a proteasomal subunit co-localizing with p28 at the viral factory, suggesting an intricate relationship between p28 and proteasomal degradation.