The proteasome core particle (CP) is a conserved protease complex that is formed by the stacking of two outer ␣-rings and two inner -rings. The ␣-ring is a heteroheptameric ring of subunits ␣1 to ␣7 and acts as a gate that restricts entry of substrate proteins into the catalytic cavity formed by the two abutting -rings. The 31-kDa proteasome inhibitor (PI31) was originally identified as a protein that binds to the CP and inhibits CP activity in vitro, but accumulating evidence indicates that PI31 is required for physiological proteasome activity. To clarify the in vivo role of PI31, we examined the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PI31 ortholog Fub1. Fub1 was essential in a situation where the CP assembly chaperone Pba4 was deleted. The lethality of ⌬fub1 ⌬pba4 was suppressed by deletion of the N terminus of ␣7 (␣7⌬N), which led to the partial activation of the CP. However, deletion of the N terminus of ␣3, which activates the CP more efficiently than ␣7⌬N by gate opening, did not suppress ⌬fub1 ⌬pba4 lethality. These results suggest that the ␣7 N terminus has a role in CP activation different from that of the ␣3 N terminus and that the role of Fub1 antagonizes a specific function of the ␣7 N terminus.
The 26S proteasome is a multicatalytic protease complex conserved in eukaryotes (1). Its main function is to serve as a selective and regulated mechanism for intracellular protein degradation, mainly in a ubiquitin-dependent manner. The 26S proteasome consists of one 20S core particle (CP) and one or two 19S regulatory particles (RPs) attached to the CP.The CP exerts proteolytic activity and is made up of four axially stacked heteroheptameric rings: two outer ␣-rings formed by ␣1 to ␣7 and two inner -rings formed by 1 to 7. Of the seven -subunits, only 1, 2, and 5 have proteolytic activities. The archaebacterium Thermoplasma acidophilum has a prototype of the CP that consists of a single type of ␣-and -subunit, with all the -subunits being catalytically active. Another difference between archaeal and eukaryotic CPs is the structure of the ␣-rings. Whereas archaeal CPs have a disordered gate that is permeable to peptide substrates, the eukaryotic ␣-ring of the CP is primarily in a closed state because the N termini of ␣1, ␣2, ␣3 (Pre9), ␣6, and ␣7 project into the opening of the ␣-ring (2-4). Therefore, the activity of the eukaryotic CP is basically latent. Of the ␣-subunits, ␣3 is supposed to be most important because the N terminus of ␣3 projects directly across the pseudo 7-fold symmetry axis. In addition, its deletion (␣3⌬N) causes disorder of the N termini of ␣1, ␣5, and ␣7, leading to an open state of ␣-rings (5). In vivo, binding of CP activators, such as the RPs, opens the closed ␣-ring (6, 7).The CP is assembled with the aid of various proteasome-dedicated chaperones in mammals and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (8-13). The assembly of CPs begins with the formation of the ␣-ring, assisted by the heterodimeric complexes PAC1-PAC2/Pba1-Pba2 and PAC3-PAC4/Pba3-Pba4 in mammals/yeast. After the formation of the ␣-...