Presenilin-2 regulates the degradation of RBP-Jk protein through p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase.

Transcriptional regulation performs a central role in Notch1 signaling by recombining binding protein Suppressor of Hairless (RBP-Jk)--a signaling pathway that is widely involved in determination of cell fate. Our earlier work demonstrated the possible regulation of the Notch1-RBP-Jk pathway through protein degradation of RBP-Jk; however, the potential regulator for the degradation of RBP-Jk remains to be determined. Here, we report that the expression of endogenous and exogenous RBP-Jk was increased significantly in cells treated with proteasome- and lysosome-specific inhibitors. The effects of these inhibitors on RBP-Jk occurred in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The level of RBP-Jk protein was higher in presenilin-2 (PS2)-knockout cells than in presenilin-1 (PS1)-knockout cells. Furthermore, the level of RBP-Jk was decreased by expression of PS2 in PS1 and PS2 double-knockout cells. We also found that PS1-knockout cells treated with a specific inhibitor of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase ∂ (MAPK) had significantly increased levels of RBP-Jk. p38 MAPK phosphorylates RBP-Jk at Thr339 by physical binding, which subsequently induces the degradation and ubiquitylation of the RBP-Jk protein. Collectively, our results indicate that PS2 modulates the degradation of RBP-Jk through phosphorylation by p38 MAPK.