Investigation of the molecular mechanism of δ-catenin ubiquitination: Implication of β-TrCP-1 as a potential E3 ligase

• δ-Catenin can be degraded by both the proteosomal- and the lysosomal pathways.
• β-TrCP interacts with δ-catenin and facilitates its degradation via Ub-proteasome.
• Ubiquitination sites on δ-catenin are mainly located at its Lys1049 and Lys1158.

Ubiquitination, a post-translational modification, involves the covalent attachment of ubiquitin to the target protein. The ubiquitin–proteasome pathway and the endosome–lysosome pathway control the degradation of the majority of eukaryotic proteins. Our previous study illustrated that δ-catenin ubiquitination occurs in a glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) phosphorylation-dependent manner. However, the molecular mechanism of δ-catenin ubiquitination is still unknown. Here, we show that the lysine residues required for ubiquitination are located mainly in the C-terminal portion of δ-catenin. In addition, we provide evidence that β-TrCP-1 interacts with δ-catenin and functions as an E3 ligase, mediating δ-catenin ubiquitin–proteasome degradation. Furthermore, we prove that both the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway and the lysosome degradation pathway are involved in δ-catenin degradation. Our novel findings on the mechanism of δ-catenin ubiquitination will add a new perspective to δ-catenin degradation and the effects of δ-catenin on E-cadherin involved in epithelial cell–cell adhesion, which is implicated in prostate cancer progression.