Reversible ubiquitination of G protein-coupled receptors regulates their trafficking and signaling; whether deubiquitinases regulate myocardial  1 -adrenergic receptors ( 1 ARs) is unknown.Wereportthatubiquitin-specificprotease20(USP20)deubiquitinates and attenuates lysosomal trafficking of the  1 AR.  1 AR-induced phosphorylation of USP20 Ser-333 by protein kinase A-␣ (PKA␣) was required for optimal USP20-mediated regulation of  1 AR lysosomal trafficking. Both phosphomimetic (S333D) and phosphorylation-impaired (S333A) USP20 possess intrinsic deubiquitinase activity equivalent to WT activity. However, unlike USP20 WT and S333D, the S333A mutant associated poorly with the  1 AR and failed to deubiquitinate the  1 AR. USP20 -KO mice showed normal baseline systolic function but impaired  1 AR-induced contractility and relaxation. Dobutamine stimulation did not increase cAMP in USP20 -KO left ventricles (LVs), whereas NKH477-induced adenylyl cyclase activity was equivalent to WT. The USP20 homolog USP33, which shares redundant roles with USP20, had no effect on  1 AR ubiquitination, but USP33 was up-regulated in USP20 -KO hearts suggesting compensatory regulation. Myocardial  1 AR expression in USP20 -KO was drastically reduced, whereas  2 AR expression was maintained as determined by radioligand binding in LV sarcolemmal membranes. Phospho-USP20 was significantly increased in LVs of wildtype (WT) mice after a 1-week catecholamine infusion and a 2-week chronic pressure overload induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Phospho-USP20 was undetectable in  1 AR KO mice subjected to TAC, suggesting a role for USP20 phosphorylation in cardiac response to pressure overload. We conclude that USP20 regulates  1 AR signaling in vitro and in vivo. Additionally,  1 AR-induced USP20 phosphorylation may serve as a feedforward mechanism to stabilize  1 AR expression and signaling during pathological insults to the myocardium. by guest on July 10, 2020 http://www.jbc.org/ Downloaded from Figure 1. Agonist-induced ubiquitination and lysosomal trafficking of the  1 AR.A, HEK-293 cells stably transfected with FLAG- 1 AR were stimulated with 1 M isoproterenol (Iso) for indicated times and subjected to FLAG IP followed by serial immunoblotting (IB) with anti-ubiquitin antibody (rabbit polyclonal, Bethyl Laboratories Inc.) and polyclonal FLAG antibody. The 1st lane shows the background signal obtained from HEK-293 cells transfected with vector. B, ubiquitin smears were quantitated and normalized to cognate FLAG- 1 AR bands and plotted as % maximum signal (see "Experimental procedures"). The graph includes means Ϯ S.E. from four independent experiments. *, p Ͻ 0.05 compared with 0 min, one-way ANOVA, and Bonferroni's test. C, HEK-293 cells with stable transfection of  1 AR-CFP were stimulated with 1 M Iso for the indicated times, and the distribution of  1 AR (red) and LAMP1 (green) was visualized with LSM-510 confocal microscope. Representative images are shown, and quantification of colocalization from Ն13 z...