Critical role of lysine 123 in the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of MDA-7/IL-24.

Melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (MDA-7/IL-24) uniquely takes on multiple anticancer functions, such as direct tumor cell cytotoxicity, immune stimulation, and antiangiogenic activities. MDA-7/IL-24 protein levels depend on proteasome degradation. Western blotting and coimmunoprecipitation analyses verified that the MDA-7/IL-24 protein was ubiquitinated and degraded by the 26S proteasome in Hela cells, which was confirmed by protein accumulation treated with proteasome inhibitor MG132. MDA-7/IL-24 contains 10 lysine sites: K63, K69, K78, K119, K123, K136, K179, K189, K203, and K206. Site-directed mutagenesis in these sites reveals that lysine 123 is the major internal lysine involvement of MDA-7/IL-24 ubiquitination. Our results further demonstrated that the mutation of lysine 123 to arginine led to the inhibition of ubiquitin-mediated degradation and the recovery of MDA-7/IL-24 protein level. At the same time, the apoptosis-inducing activity of K123R mutant was obviously stronger than wild-type MDA-7/IL-24 detected by 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) assay and annexin V analysis. In addition, K123R mutant tilted the balance between antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and proapoptotic protein Bax, which subsequently induced the cleavage of caspase signaling cascade and initiated cell apoptosis. Together, lysine 123 is mainly implicated in the ubiquitination and degradation of MDA-7/IL-24. Inhibition of degradation and ubiquitination of MDA-7/IL-24 through mutation of lysine 123 result in enhanced stability of MDA-7/IL-24 and exhibits persistent tumor suppression activity compared with the wild type.