Lamina-associated polypeptide (LAP) 2alpha is a chromatin-associated protein that binds A-type lamins. Mutations in both LAP2alpha and A-type lamins are linked to human diseases called laminopathies, but the molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. The A-type lamin-LAP2alpha complex interacts with and regulates retinoblastoma protein (pRb), but the significance of this interaction in vivo is unknown. Here we address the function of the A-type lamin-LAP2alpha complex with the use of LAP2alpha-deficient mice. We show that LAP2alpha loss causes relocalization of nucleoplasmic A-type lamins to the nuclear envelope and impairs pRb function. This causes inefficient cell-cycle arrest in dense fibroblast cultures and hyperproliferation of epidermal and erythroid progenitor cells in vivo, leading to tissue hyperplasia. Our results support a disease-relevant model in which LAP2alpha defines A-type lamin localization in the nucleoplasm, which in turn affects pRb-mediated regulation of progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation in highly regenerative tissues.

Cross-talk between plant cells and their surroundings requires tight regulation of information exchange at the plasma membrane (PM), which involves dynamic adjustments of PM protein localization and turnover to modulate signal perception and solute transport at the interface between cells and their surroundings. In animals and fungi, turnover of PM proteins is controlled by reversible ubiquitylation, which signals endocytosis and delivery to the cell's lytic compartment, and there is emerging evidence for related mechanisms in plants. Here, we describe the fate of Arabidopsis PIN2 protein, required for directional cellular efflux of the phytohormone auxin, and identify cis-and trans-acting mediators of PIN2 ubiquitylation. We demonstrate that ubiquitin acts as a principal signal for PM protein endocytosis in plants and reveal dynamic adjustments in PIN2 ubiquitylation coinciding with variations in vacuolar targeting and proteolytic turnover. We show that control of PIN2 proteolytic turnover via its ubiquitylation status is of significant importance for auxin distribution in root meristems and for environmentally controlled adaptations of root growth. Moreover, we provide experimental evidence indicating that PIN2 vacuolar sorting depends on modification specifically by lysine 63 -linked ubiquitin chains. Collectively, our results establish lysine 63 -linked PM cargo ubiquitylation as a regulator of polar auxin transport and adaptive growth responses in higher plants.P lants have evolved a repertoire of mechanisms for continuously adapting vital parameters in response to fluctuating environmental conditions. Sensing and responding to such variations depend to a large extent on the activity of plasma membrane (PM)-associated proteins that function in stimulus perception and solute transport. Specifically, adjustments in subcellular distribution of PM proteins are an efficient means to modulate their activity and involve continuous protein cycling between PM and endosomes as well as irreversible targeting for degradation in the lytic vacuole/lysosome (1).An evolutionary conserved machinery controls PM protein sorting for degradation, and, specifically in animals and fungi, it was demonstrated that PM protein fate is decisively influenced by their reversible ubiquitylation, triggering cargo endocytosis and delivery to the lytic compartment (2-4). Related mechanisms appear to be operative in plants (5-9) because, recently, ubiquitylation has been described for some plant PM proteins, linking nutrient transport and stimulus perception to endocytic protein turnover (6-9). Strikingly, different patterns of protein ubiquitylation have been observed, with mono-, di-, as well as polyubiquitylation implicated in regulating endocytic trafficking and degradation of distinct proteins (5). This resembles the situation in nonplant organisms, in which mono-and polyubiquitylation have been associated with cargo endocytosis (10).Vacuolar sorting was also demonstrated for PIN1-type auxin carrier proteins, which are instrumental for ...

Lamina-associated polypeptide (LAP) 2α is a LEM (lamina-associated polypeptide emerin MAN1) family protein associated with nucleoplasmic A-type lamins and chromatin. Using live cell imaging and fluorescence microscopy we demonstrate that LAP2α was mostly cytoplasmic in metaphase and associated with telomeres in anaphase. Telomeric LAP2α clusters grew in size, formed `core' structures on chromatin adjacent to the spindle in telophase, and translocated to the nucleoplasm in G1 phase. A subfraction of lamin C and emerin followed LAP2α to the core region early on, whereas LAP2β, lamin B receptor and lamin B initially bound to more peripheral regions of chromatin, before they spread to core structures with different kinetics. Furthermore, the DNA-crosslinking protein barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) bound to LAP2α in vitro and in mitotic extracts, and subfractions of BAF relocalized to core structures with LAP2α. We propose that LAP2α and a subfraction of BAF form defined complexes in chromatin core regions and may be involved in chromatin reorganization during early stages of nuclear assembly.