Conventional ubiquitination involves the ATP-dependent formation of amide bonds between the ubiquitin C terminus and primary amines in substrate proteins. Recently, SdeA, an effector protein of pathogenic Legionella pneumophila, was shown to mediate NAD-dependent and ATP-independent ubiquitin transfer to host proteins. Here, we identify a phosphodiesterase domain in SdeA that efficiently catalyzes phosphoribosylation of ubiquitin on a specific arginine via an ADP-ribose-ubiquitin intermediate. SdeA also catalyzes a chemically and structurally distinct type of substrate ubiquitination by conjugating phosphoribosylated ubiquitin to serine residues of protein substrates via a phosphodiester bond. Furthermore, phosphoribosylation of ubiquitin prevents activation of E1 and E2 enzymes of the conventional ubiquitination cascade, thereby impairing numerous cellular processes including mitophagy, TNF signaling, and proteasomal degradation. We propose that phosphoribosylation of ubiquitin potently modulates ubiquitin functions in mammalian cells.

FAM134B/RETREG1 is a selective ER-phagy receptor that regulates the size and shape of the endoplasmic reticulum. The structure of its reticulon-homology domain (RHD), an element shared with other ER-shaping proteins, and the mechanism of membrane shaping remain poorly understood. Using molecular modeling and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we assemble a structural model for the RHD of FAM134B. Through MD simulations of FAM134B in flat and curved membranes, we relate the dynamic RHD structure with its two wedge-shaped transmembrane helical hairpins and two amphipathic helices to FAM134B functions in membrane-curvature induction and curvature-mediated protein sorting. FAM134B clustering, as expected to occur in autophagic puncta, amplifies the membrane-shaping effects. Electron microscopy of in vitro liposome remodeling experiments support the membrane remodeling functions of the different RHD structural elements. Disruption of the RHD structure affects selective autophagy flux and leads to disease states.

Ruijs-Aalfs syndrome is a segmental progeroid syndrome resulting from mutations in the SPRTN gene. Cells derived from patients with SPRTN mutations elicit genomic instability and people afflicted with this syndrome developed hepatocellular carcinoma. Here we describe the molecular mechanism by which SPRTN contributes to genome stability and normal cellular homeostasis. We show that SPRTN is a DNA-dependent mammalian protease required for resolving cytotoxic DNA-protein crosslinks (DPCs)— a function that had only been attributed to the metalloprotease Wss1 in budding yeast. We provide genetic evidence that SPRTN and Wss1 function distinctly in vivo to resolve DPCs. Upon DNA and ubiquitin binding, SPRTN can elicit proteolytic activity; cleaving DPC substrates and itself. SPRTN null cells or cells derived from patients with Ruijs-Aalfs syndrome are impaired in the resolution of covalent DPCs in vivo. Collectively, SPRTN is a mammalian protease required for resolving DNA-protein crosslinks in vivo whose function is compromised in Ruijs-Aalfs syndrome patients.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21491.001

Conventional ubiquitination regulates key cellular processes by catalyzing the ATP-dependent formation of an isopeptide bond between ubiquitin (Ub) and primary amines in substrate proteins1. Recently, SidE family of bacterial effector proteins (SdeA, SdeB, SdeC and SidE) of pathogenic Legionella pneumophila were shown to utilize NAD+ to mediate phosphoribosyl-linked ubiquitination (PR-ubiquitination) of serine residues in host proteins2,3. Yet, the molecular architecture of the catalytic platform enabling such a complex multistep process remained unknown. Here, we describe the structure of the catalytic core of SdeA composed of the mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (mART) and the phosphodiesterase (PDE) domains and shed light on the activity of two distinct catalytic sites for serine ubiquitination. The mART catalytic site is composed of an α-helical lobe (AHL) that together with the mART-core creates a chamber for NAD+ binding and ADP-ribosylation of Ub. The catalytic site in the PDE domain cleaves ADP-ribosylated Ub to phosphoribosyl Ub (PR-Ub) and mediates a two-step PR-Ub transfer reaction: first to a catalytic histidine 277 (forming a transient SdeA:H277-PR-Ub intermediate) and subsequently to a serine residue in host proteins. Structural analysis revealed a substrate binding cleft in the PDE domain juxtaposing the catalytic site that is essential for serine positioning for ubiquitination. Using degenerate substrate peptides and newly identified ubiquitination sites in RTN4B, we show that disordered polypeptides with hydrophobic residues surrounding the target serine residues are preferred substrates for SdeA ubiquitination. Infection studies with L. pneumophila expressing substrate-binding mutants of SdeA revealed that substrate ubiquitination rather than modification of the cellular Ub pool determines the pathophysiological effect of SdeA during acute bacterial infection.