Rojas-Pierce Marcela, Bednarek Sebastian Y
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2025 Apr 9;53(2):409-18. doi: 10.1042/BST20230939.
Inducible protein degradation systems are an important but untapped resource for the study of protein function in plant cells. Unlike mutagenesis or transcriptional control, regulated degradation of proteins of interest allows the study of the biological mechanisms of highly dynamic cellular processes involving essential proteins. While systems for targeted protein degradation are available for research and therapeutics in animals, there are currently limited options in plant biology. Targeted protein degradation systems rely on target ubiquitination by E3 ubiquitin ligases. Systems that are available or being developed in plants can be distinguished primarily by the type of E3 ubiquitin ligase involved, including those that utilize Cullin-RING ligases, bacterial novel E3 ligases, and N-end rule pathway E3 ligases, or they can be controlled by proteolysis targeting chimeras. Target protein ubiquitination leads to degradation by the proteasome or targeting to the vacuole, with both pathways being ubiquitous and important for the endogenous control of protein abundance in plants. Targeted proteolysis approaches for plants will likely be an important tool for basic research and to yield novel traits for crop biotechnology.
诱导型蛋白质降解系统是研究植物细胞中蛋白质功能的重要但尚未开发的资源。与诱变或转录控制不同，对目标蛋白质进行调控降解能够研究涉及必需蛋白质的高度动态细胞过程的生物学机制。虽然靶向蛋白质降解系统可用于动物研究和治疗，但目前在植物生物学中的选择有限。靶向蛋白质降解系统依赖于E3泛素连接酶对目标进行泛素化。植物中可用或正在开发的系统主要可根据所涉及的E3泛素连接酶类型来区分，包括那些利用Cullin-RING连接酶、细菌新型E3连接酶和N端规则途径E3连接酶的系统，或者它们可以由蛋白酶靶向嵌合体控制。目标蛋白质泛素化会导致通过蛋白酶体降解或靶向液泡，这两条途径在植物中对于蛋白质丰度的内源性控制都是普遍存在且重要的。针对植物的靶向蛋白水解方法可能是基础研究的重要工具，并可为作物生物技术产生新的性状。
