Abstract
The dynamic and reversible post-translational modification of proteins and protein complexes with the ubiquitin-related SUMO modifier regulates a wide variety of nuclear functions, such as transcription, replication and DNA repair. SUMO can be attached as a monomer to its targets, but can also form polymeric SUMO chains. While monoSUMOylation is generally involved in the assembly of protein complexes, multi- or polySUMOylation may have very different consequences. The evolutionary conserved paradigmatic signaling process initiated by multi- or polySUMOylation is the SUMO-targeted Ubiquitin ligase (StUbL) pathway, where the presence of multiple SUMO moieties primes ubiquitylation by the mammalian E3 ubiquitin ligases RNF4 or RNF111, or the yeast Slx5/8 heterodimer. The mammalian SUMO chain-specific isopeptidases SENP6 or SENP7, or yeast Ulp2, counterbalance chain formation thereby limiting StUbL activity. Many facets of SUMO chain signaling are still incompletely understood, mainly because only a limited number of polySUMOylated substrates have been identified. Here we summarize recent work that revealed a highly interconnected network of candidate polySUMO modified proteins functioning in DNA damage response and chromatin organization. Based on these datasets and published work on distinct polySUMO-regulated processes we discuss overarching concepts in SUMO chain function. We propose an evolutionary conserved role of polySUMOylation in orchestrating chromatin dynamics and genome stability networks by balancing chromatin-residency of protein complexes. This concept will be exemplified in processes, such as centromere/kinetochore organization, sister chromatid cohesion, DNA repair and replication.
The Sumo Pathway and Its Intersection With Ubiquitin
Post-translational modification with the ubiquitin-related modifier SUMO provides a rapid and reversible way to control protein functions. Lower eukaryotes, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae express a single SUMO form, also known as Smt3, while in humans three conjugatable SUMO paralogs (SUMO1, SUMO2, and SUMO3) are found (; ). At the amino acid level SUMO1 is 50% identical to SUMO2/3, which differ in only two amino acid residues. Conjugation of SUMO to lysine residues of targets proceeds via a multi-step enzymatic pathway involving a dimeric E1 activating enzyme (SAE1/SAE2), an E2 conjugating enzyme (Ubc9) and a relatively small set of SUMO E3 ligases. Attachment of SUMO generally modulates protein-protein interactions through binding of SUMO conjugates to interaction partners harboring specific SUMO interaction motifs, termed SIMs (; ). Multiple SUMO-SIM mediated protein-protein interactions are commonly involved in the assembly of larger protein complexes. Much like ubiquitin, SUMO can be attached as a monomer on single or multiple lysine sites of a target protein generating mono- or multiSUMOylated proteins. Additionally, SUMO can also form polymeric chains through the attachment of one SUMO molecule to internal lysine residues of another SUMO moiety. SUMO chains are typically induced in response to cellular stress and preferentially assemble via lysine residue 11 in SUMO2/3 (; ). However, alternatively linked non-canonical SUMO2/3 chains, mixed SUMO1-SUMO2/3 chains as well as SUMO2/3 chains capped with SUMO1, have been found (; ; ). One signaling process initiated by SUMO chains is the SUMO-targeted Ubiquitin ligase (StUbL) pathway. In this evolutionary conserved pathway, poly- (or multi-) SUMOylated proteins are recognized by E3 ubiquitin ligases that contain specific binding modules for these structures. The best-characterized StUbLs are the budding yeast Slx5/Slx8 heterodimer and the mammalian RING-type ubiquitin ligases RNF4 and RNF111 (; ). They all contain poly- or multi-SUMO binding modules and catalyze either non-proteolytic or proteolytic ubiquitylation of proteins modified by multiple SUMO moieties. Depending on the cooperating ubiquitin E2 enzyme, RNF4 and RNF111 can mediate either K63- or K48 ubiquitylation. RNF4 also synthesizes hybrid SUMO-ubiquitin chains by ubiquitylating lysine residues on SUMO (). Similarly to other PTMs SUMOylation is a reversible and dynamic modification. Deconjugation of SUMO from targets is catalyzed by SUMO-specific isopeptidases. The best-characterized isopeptidases belong to the ULP/SENP family of cysteine proteases, which share a conserved catalytic domain (; ). In S. cerevisiae, Ulp1 and Ulp2 act as SUMO deconjugases, while human cells express six SENP family members. SENP1, SENP2, SENP3 and SENP5 are evolutionary derived from the Ulp1 branch, while SENP6 and SENP7 are related to the Ulp2 subtype. Ulp2, as well as SENP6 and SENP7 preferentially act on SUMO chains thereby countering the StUbL pathway. While SENP6 and SENP7 antagonize the StUbL pathway by limiting SUMO chain formation, two deubiquitylating enzymes, namely USP7 and USP11, possibly counter RNF4 signaling by catalyzing the removal of ubiquitin from SUMO2 polymers (; ; ).
Despite these mechanistic insights, cellular signaling by SUMO chains is still incompletely understood. This is mainly due to the fact that so far the cellular substrates undergoing dynamic polySUMOylation were not well defined. To fill this gap, recent unbiased proteomic screens have focused on the identification of targets for the chain-specific isopeptidase SENP6 (; ). To this end alterations in SUMO conjugation were determined following inactivation of SENP6 by siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knock-down. Even though some changes might be indirect, these studies revealed a comprehensive list of candidate substrates of SUMO chain modification. Based on these datasets and other published work we give an overview of cellular networks that are controlled by polySUMOylation. The integrated proteomics dataset of candidate SENP6 targets revealed a highly interconnected network of proteins functioning in DNA damage response and DNA repair networks as well as chromatin organization. Importantly, SENP6 seems to limit SUMO chain formation of protein groups that are part of larger protein assemblies (Figure 1). This is exemplified for the constitutive centromere-associated network (CCAN) (Figure 1, red subcluster) and SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) complexes, such as the SMC1/3 cohesin complex (Figure 1, green subcluster) and the SMC5/6 complex (Figure 1, magenta subcluster).
FIGURE 1
Sumo Chains as Organizers of Kinetochores/Centromeres
A first hint for a role of SUMO, and in particular SUMO chains, in centromere organization was provided by genetic data from yeast. In fact, both Smt3 and Ulp2/Smt4 were initially identified in a high copy suppressor screen of a temperature sensitive mutation in the centromeric Mif2 protein, the yeast ortholog of the mammalian inner kinetochore protein CENP-C (
FIGURE 2

Balancing SUMO chain formation controls chromatin residency of the cohesion complex (A), the centromere network (B) and the FA repair pathway (C). For details see text.
Altogether these data clearly indicate that the global architecture of centromere/kinetochores largely depends on the coordinated formation and editing of SUMO chains. Conclusive evidence defines SENP6 as the essential chain-limiting activity in this process and underscores a main role of SENP6 in protecting at least a subset of centromeric proteins from entering the StUbL pathway. Why only a subset of polySUMOylated centromeric proteins are channeled into this pathway and how the proposed polySUMO-mediated, but ubiquitin-independent impairment of centromeric CCAN deposition occurs are future key questions.
Sumo Chains as Regulators of SMC Complexes
Structural maintenance of chromosomes complexes consist of multi-subunit annular structures that encircle DNA molecules and function in the organization and compaction of chromosomes. In eukaryotes there are three distinct SMC complexes, cohesin (SMC1/3), condensin (SMC2/4) and the SMC5/6 complex (
The cohesion core complex is composed of the SMC1-SMC3 scaffold and the kleisin Rad21, which is associated with the HEAT repeat proteins STAG1 or STAG2 and PDS5A or PDS5B (
Importantly, polySUMOylation of the two cohesin-related SMC complexes, condensin and SMC5/6 is also controlled by SENP6. Condensins promote chromatin compaction to prepare for chromosome segregation during mitosis. In humans two condensin complexes are found (
Sumo Chains in DNA Repair and the DNA Damage Response (DDR)
In both lower and higher eukaryotes StUBLs contribute to the maintainance of genome stability (
Sumo Chains at Replisomes
Several lines of evidence point to a regulatory role of SUMO chains and the StUbL pathway in unperturbed DNA replication and under replication stress. A recurrent theme is again that the extent of SUMO- or Ub-SUMO chains governs the association of the replication machinery with chromatin. This has been very recently nicely exemplified for the budding yeast Dbf4-Cdc7 kinase complex, which mediates DNA replication initiation by phosphorylating the replicative MCM helicase complex (
Limiting the formation of Ub-SUMO conjugates at replisomes is also an important mechanism that safeguards replication progression in mammalian cells. USP7 was identified as a DUB that removes ubiquitin from SUMO. Intriguingly, upon USP7 inhibition, SUMOylated proteins are collectively displaced from the replisome, which fully abrogates DNA replication, both by limiting fork progression and the firing of new origins (
Concluding Remarks
Altogether, the above-mentioned data strongly support a general role of polySUMOylation and the StUbL pathway in controlling the chromatin association of proteins and protein complexes. This also implies that mono- and polySUMOylation of the same protein or protein complex may have fundamentally different consequences. MonoSUMOylation can facilitate the assembly of DNA-associated protein complexes by fostering SUMO-SIM dependent complex formations. PolySUMOylation in turn primes the complexes for StUbL-mediated proteolytic or non-proteolytic ubiquitylation and displacement from chromatin in conjunction with the p97 machinery. DNA can directly trigger SUMOylation, as exemplified by DNA-dependent activation of the NSMCE2/Mms21 ligase in the SMC5/6 complex (
Statements
Author contributions
JK-S and KS designed and prepared the figures and corrected the manuscript. SM wrote the manuscript.
Funding
The work was funded by DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB815, SFB1177 and DFG grant MU-1764/4.
Acknowledgments
We thank all members of our group and members of IBC2 for constructive feedback and discussions.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
RNF4, StUbL, SENP6, PolySUMOylation, SUMO chains
Citation
Keiten-Schmitz J, Schunck K and Müller S (2020) SUMO Chains Rule on Chromatin Occupancy. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 7:343. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2019.00343
Received
03 November 2019
Accepted
03 December 2019
Published
10 January 2020
Volume
7 - 2019
Edited by
Huib Ovaa, Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands
Reviewed by
Jürgen Dohmen, University of Cologne, Germany; Ivo A. Hendriks, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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© 2020 Keiten-Schmitz, Schunck and Müller.
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*Correspondence: Stefan Müller, ste.mueller@em.uni-frankfurt.de
†These authors have contributed equally to this work
This article was submitted to Cellular Biochemistry, a section of the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
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