bSignaling mucins are evolutionarily conserved regulators of signal transduction pathways. The signaling mucin Msb2p regulates the Cdc42p-dependent mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway that controls filamentous growth in yeast. The cleavage and release of the glycosylated inhibitory domain of Msb2p is required for MAPK activation. We show here that proteolytic processing of Msb2p was induced by underglycosylation of its extracellular domain. Cleavage of underglycosylated Msb2p required the unfolded protein response (UPR), a quality control (QC) pathway that operates in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The UPR regulator Ire1p, which detects misfolded/underglycosylated proteins in the ER, controlled Msb2p cleavage by regulating transcriptional induction of Yps1p, the major protease that processes Msb2p. Accordingly, the UPR was required for differentiation to the filamentous cell type. Cleavage of Msb2p occurred in conditional trafficking mutants that trap secretory cargo in the endomembrane system. Processed Msb2p was delivered to the plasma membrane, and its turnover by the ubiquitin ligase Rsp5p and ESCRT attenuated the filamentous-growth pathway. We speculate that the QC pathways broadly regulate signaling glycoproteins and their cognate pathways by recognizing altered glycosylation patterns that can occur in response to extrinsic cues.
Signaling mucins are evolutionarily conserved regulators of signal transduction pathways (1-4). Signaling mucins are composed of a highly glycosylated extracellular domain that contains a mucin homology domain (MHD), which is defined by tandem repeats rich in Ser/Thr/Pro residues. The extracellular domain is connected by a single-pass transmembrane (TM) alpha helix to a cytosolic signaling domain, which associates with a diverse array of proteins that regulate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, Akt, -catenin, and other pathways (5-8). Signaling mucins are overexpressed in different cancers, where they contribute to cell proliferation and metastasis (6). They are diagnostic biomarkers for cancers (9) and targets for immunotherapies (10,11). Therefore, the mechanisms by which signaling mucins and related glycoproteins are regulated is of intense interest.In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the mucin-like glycoprotein Msb2p regulates the MAPK pathway that controls filamentous growth, a cell differentiation behavior that occurs in response to nutrient limitation (12-14). The extracellular domain of Msb2p is extensively glycosylated. Msb2p is modified by Nlinked and O-linked glycosylation and contains a canonical MHD that is itself highly glycosylated (15, 16). In a landmark study, Yang et al. identified Pmt4p as the major O-mannosyltransferase for Msb2p (17). Pmt4p is a member of an evolutionarily conserved protein mannosyl transferase (Pmt) gene family (2, 18). Msb2p also contains a cytosolic signaling domain. The cytosolic domain of Msb2p associates with the Rho GTPase Cdc42p (15), which is a ubiquitous regulator of cell polarity and signaling...