Mutations in BLM helicase predispose Bloom syndrome (BS) patients to a wide spectrum of cancers. We demonstrate that MIB1-ubiquitylated BLM in G1 phase functions as an adaptor protein by enhancing the binding of transcription factor c-Jun and its E3 ligase, Fbw7α. BLM enhances the K48/K63-linked ubiquitylation on c-Jun, thereby enhancing the rate of its subsequent degradation. Functionally defective Fbw7α mutants prevalent in multiple human cancers are reactivated by BLM. However, BS patient-derived BLM mutants cannot potentiate Fbw7α-dependent c-Jun degradation. The decrease in the levels of c-Jun in cells expressing BLM prevents effective c-Jun binding to 2,584 gene promoters. This causes decreases in the transcript and protein levels of c-Jun targets in BLM-expressing cells, resulting in attenuated c-Jun-dependent effects during neoplastic transformation. Thus, BLM carries out its function as a tumor suppressor by enhancing c-Jun turnover and thereby preventing its activity as a proto-oncogene.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.