The Cdc48-20S proteasome degrades a class of endogenous proteins in a ubiquitin-independent manner.

The 26S proteasome is the major degradation machinery for soluble proteins in eukaryotes. Recent evidence reveals the existence of an alternative ATP-powered protein degradation complex, the Cdc48-20S proteasome complex, and we have identified yeast Sod1, a copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, as an endogenous substrate protein. Here, we identified yeast Ths1, an essential threonyl tRNA synthetase, as another endogenous substrate protein of the Cdc48-20S proteasome. In order to analyze the degradation mechanism in more details, we established an in vitro degradation system reconstituted using purified yeast components. Recombinant Sod1 and Ths1 directly interacted with Cdc48, and were degraded in a Cdc48-20S proteasome-dependent manner. Because the substrate proteins were purified from E. coli cells, no eukaryotic modifications including ubiquitination and phosphorylation exist. Therefore, although the 26S proteasome requires ubiquitination for specific recognition of the substrate proteins, the Cdc48-20S proteasome can degrade a class of substrate proteins without any modifications.