Loss of Rpt5 protein interactions with the core particle and Nas2 protein causes the formation of faulty proteasomes that are inhibited by Ecm29 protein.

The proteasome is a large and complex protease formed by 66 polypeptides. The assembly of the proteasome is assisted by at least nine chaperones. One of these chaperones, Nas2/p27, binds to the C-terminal region of the AAA-ATPase Rpt5. We report here that the tail of Rpt5 provides two functions. First, it facilitates the previously reported interaction with the proteasome core particle (CP). Second, it is essential for the interaction with Nas2. Deletion of the C-terminal amino acid of Rpt5 disrupts the CP interaction, but not the binding to Nas2. The latter is surprising considering Nas2 contains a PDZ domain, which is often involved in binding to C termini. Interestingly, deletion of the last three amino acids interferes with both functions. The disruption of the Rpt5-CP interactions gave distinct phenotypes different from disruption of the Nas2-Rpt5 interaction. Additionally, proteasomes purified from a Saccharomyces cerevisiae rpt5-Δ3 strain show a strong enrichment of Ecm29. The function of Ecm29, a proteasome-associated protein, is not well understood. Our data show that Ecm29 can inhibit proteasomes, because our Ecm29-containing proteasomes have reduced suc-LLVY-AMC hydrolytic activity. Consistent with this apparent role as negative regulator, the deletion of ECM29 rescues the phenotypes of rpt5-Δ3 and nas2Δ in an hsm3Δ background. In sum, the interactions facilitated by the tail of Rpt5 act synergistically to minimize the formation of faulty proteasomes, thereby preventing recognition and inhibition by Ecm29.