A newly identified Pirh2 substrate SCYL1-BP1 can bind to MDM2 and accelerate MDM2 self-ubiquitination.

The SCY1-like 1 binding protein 1 (SCYL1-BP1) protein was identified as an interacting partner of E3 ligase p53-induced RING H2 protein (Pirh2) and mouse double minute gene number 2 (MDM2) by yeast two-hybrid screening. Further investigation suggested there are two interactions involved in different mechanisms. SCYL1-BP1 can be ubiquitinated and degraded by Pirh2 but not by MDM2, which suggests that SCYL1-BP1 can be regulated by Pirh2. On the other hand, while SCYL1-BP1 binds to ubiquitin E3 ligase MDM2, it promotes MDM2 self-ubiquitination and results in a reduction of MDM2 protein level. Copyright (c) 2010 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.