Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP 3 ) receptors are endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane calcium channels that, upon activation, become substrates for the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway. Although it is clear that IP 3 receptors are polyubiquitinated upon activation and are transferred to the proteasome by a p97-based complex, currently nothing is known about the proteins that initially select activated IP 3 receptors for ERAD. Here, we sought to identify novel proteins that associate with and mediate the ERAD of endogenous activated IP 3 receptors. SPFH2, an uncharacterized SPFH domaincontaining protein, rapidly associated with IP 3 receptors in a manner that preceded significant polyubiquitination and the association of p97 and related proteins. SPFH2 was found to be an ER membrane protein largely residing within the ER lumen and in resting and stimulated cells was linked to ERAD pathway components, apparently via endogenous substrates undergoing degradation. Suppression of SPFH2 expression by RNA interference markedly inhibited IP 3 receptor polyubiquitination and degradation and the processing of other ERAD substrates. Overall, these studies identify SPFH2 as a key ERAD pathway component and suggest that it may act as a substrate recognition factor.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)2 -associated degradation (ERAD) pathway is responsible for the degradation of aberrant proteins in the ER (1) and, in addition to this "quality control" function, also accounts for the degradation of several metabolically regulated, native ER proteins (2, 3). The essential features of the ERAD pathway are substrate recognition, polyubiquitination, and delivery to the 26 S proteasome, which is located in the cytosol (1). Much of our understanding of the ERAD pathway has been obtained using yeast as a model system, and although there are many parallels between the yeast and mammalian ERAD pathways, there appear to be some key differences. Most notably, mammalian cells have additional components that add diversity and complexity to substrate recognition and processing (4).Quite a lot is known about how ERAD substrates are polyubiquitinated and transferred to the proteasome. Studies in yeast suggest that ER luminal substrates and membrane substrates with aberrant luminal or membrane domains are polyubiquitinated by an ER membrane protein complex containing the ubiquitin ligase (E3) Hrd1p, whereas membrane substrates with aberrant cytosolic domains are targeted by a complex containing the E3 Doa10p (4). Hrd3p binds to and regulates Hrd1p (5), and together with the ER luminal lectin Yos9p, may use its large luminal domain to recruit ERAD substrates to a putative "retrotranslocation" channel in the ER membrane (6 -8). Retrotranslocation is facilitated by the cytosolic Cdc48p-Ufd1p-Npl4p complex, which associates with Hrd1p and Doa10p via membrane-bound Ubx2p (4, 8 -10), and likely uses ATP hydrolysis to both unfold ERAD substrates and extract them from the ER membrane (11-13). Polyubiquitination then occurs either simultaneously wit...