Open AccessRegulation of Iron Homeostasis through Parkin-Mediated Lactoferrin Ubiquitylation
Author(s) -
Ankur A. Gholkar,
Stefan Schmollinger,
Erick F. Velasquez,
YuChen Lo,
Whitaker Cohn,
Joseph Capri,
Harish Dharmarajan,
William James Deardorff,
Lucy Gao,
Mai Abdusamad,
Julian P. Whitelegge,
Jorge Z. Torres
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.43
H-Index - 253
eISSN - 1520-4995
pISSN - 0006-2960
DOI - 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00504
Subject(s) - parkin , intracellular , ubiquitin , transferrin , ubiquitin ligase , transferrin receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , endocytosis , chemistry , homeostasis , mutant , biology , biochemistry , parkinson's disease , receptor , medicine , disease , gene
Somatic mutations that perturb Parkin ubiquitin ligase activity and the misregulation of iron homeostasis have both been linked to Parkinson's disease. Lactotransferrin (LTF) is a member of the family of transferrin iron binding proteins that regulate iron homeostasis, and increased levels of LTF and its receptor have been observed in neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease. Here, we report that Parkin binds to LTF and ubiquitylates LTF to influence iron homeostasis. Parkin-dependent ubiquitylation of LTF occurred most often on lysines (K) 182 and 649. Substitution of K182 or K649 with alanine (K182A or K649A, respectively) led to a decrease in the level of LTF ubiquitylation, and substitution at both sites led to a major decrease in the level of LTF ubiquitylation. Importantly, Parkin-mediated ubiquitylation of LTF was critical for regulating intracellular iron levels as overexpression of LTF ubiquitylation site point mutants (K649A or K182A/K649A) led to an increase in intracellular iron levels measured by ICP-MS/MS. Consistently, RNAi-mediated depletion of Parkin led to an increase in intracellular iron levels in contrast to overexpression of Parkin that led to a decrease in intracellular iron levels. Together, these results indicate that Parkin binds to and ubiquitylates LTF to regulate intracellular iron levels. These results expand our understanding of the cellular processes that are perturbed when Parkin activity is disrupted and more broadly the mechanisms that contribute to Parkinson's disease.