JADE family proteins regulate proteasome abundance and activity

Abstract JADE family proteins (JADE1/2/3) have been implicated in diverse cellular functions and signaling pathways ranging from WNT signaling and cell cycle control to cell death and complex transcriptional regulation through histone acetyl-transferase complexes. JADE proteins show a high degree of sequence similarity and share two PHD zinc finger domains. JADE1 interacts with cilia-associated proteins and has been implicated in cilia-related genetic disorders with kidney phenotypes. However, the function of the widely expressed JADE proteins at the molecular level is still elusive. Here we show that JADE proteins regulate proteasome abundance and activity. Using kidney cells as a model, we demonstrate that loss of either JADE protein resulted in increased expression of almost all components of the 26S proteasome. Regulation occurred at the post-translational level and was not the consequence of transcriptional activation. Consistent with a role for JADE proteins in regulating overall proteasomal abundance, proteasomal activity was elevated in Jade-deficient cells, while exogenous expression of JADE1/2/3 decreased the level of proteasome activity. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments confirmed the interaction of proteasomal subunits with Jade1 suggesting a direct role of JADE proteins in regulating turnover, stability and abundance of the 26s proteasome. These data may now explain the plethora of cellular roles that have been attributed to JADE proteins.