Alternative ubiquitin activation/conjugation cascades interact with N-end rule ubiquitin ligases to control degradation of RGS proteins.

Vertebrates express two enzymes for activation of ubiquitin-UBA1, which is responsible for activation of the vast majority of E2 conjugating enzymes, and UBA6, which uses the dedicated E2, USE1. However, targets and E3s for UBA6-USE1 are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that UBA6-USE1 functions with the UBR1-3 subfamily of N-recognin E3s to degrade the N-end rule substrates RGS4, RGS5, and Arg (R)-GFP. This pathway functions in the cytoplasm in parallel with the UBA1-UBE2A/B-UBR2 cascade, which promotes turnover of nuclear RGS4/5 proteins and an apparently phenotypically distinct pool of cytoplasmic RGS4/5. UBR2 promotes Lys48 (K48)-specific ubiquitin discharge from, and RGS4 ubiquitylation by, both USE1 and UBE2A in vitro. This work provides insight into the machinery employed by the UBA6-USE1 cascade to promote protein turnover and suggests that the UBA6 and UBA1 pathways can function in parallel with the same E3 to degrade the same targets in a spatially distinct manner.