pVHL interacts with Ceramide kinase like (CERKL) protein and ubiquitinates it for oxygen dependent proteasomal degradation

Mutations of Ceramide kinase-like (CERKL) gene are associated with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), an inherited degenerative eye disease. CERKL encodes an antioxidant protein which is critical to photoreceptor survival, its deficiency causes retinal degeneration as a result of oxidative damage. However, the regulation of CERKL in response to oxidative stress, and its contribution to photoreceptor survival remain unclear. pVHL, the substrate receptor of RING finger-type SCF like ECV ubiquitin ligase, binds and ubiquitinates a number of hydroxylated proteins for proteasomal degradation. Due to hydroxylated proteins which are modified by PHD1–3, pVHL dependent ubiquitin-proteasomal degradation pathway is blocked by PHD1-3 inhibitors (e.g. hypoxia or oxidative stress). In this study, we identified pVHL as an important regulator of CERKL. Western blot and in vivo ubiquitination assays showed hypoxia up-regulates CERKL at protein level by down-regulating its poly-ubiquitination. By Co-IP and domain mapping studies, we found CERKL complexes with ECV ligase via pVHL. Through overexpression and small RNA interference analysis, we demonstrated pVHL ubiquitinates CERKL for proteasomal degradation. Additionally, our work showed that the oxygen sensors PHD1 and PHD3 are involved in CERKL degradation. Collectively, our results indicated that pVHL interacts with CERKL and ubiquitinates it for oxygen dependent proteasomal degradation.