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Lipid bilayer thinning near a ubiquitin ligase selects ER membrane proteins for degradation

Created on 02 Nov 2025

Authors

Pisa, R., Rapoport, T. A.

Abstract

Misfolded or unassembled membrane proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are polyubiquitinated, translocated into the cytosol, and degraded by the proteasome, a poorly understood process that is conserved in all eukaryotes. Here, we use S. cerevisiae to elucidate how ER membrane proteins are selected for degradation. We show that hydrophilic residues in a trans-membrane (TM) segment cause the TM to partition into a thinned membrane region next to the ubiquitin ligase Hrd1, which then leads to substrate polyubiquitination and degradation. In the case of single-pass membrane proteins, the Hrd1-associated Der1 protein contributes to partitioning and degradation. In contrast, multi-pass proteins require Hrd1 to function on its own. Our results provide a general mechanism by which ER membrane proteins are targeted for degradation.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 02 Nov 2025.

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