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These authors contributed equally: Wei Zhou, Daniel Melamed, Gabor Banyai. The original HTML version of this Article was updated after publication because the previous HTML version was linked to an incorrect Transparent Peer Review file. Supplementary information Graph: Peer Review File Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31463-5. [Extracted from the article]

Cross-talk between different types of post-translational modifications on the same protein molecule adds specificity and combinatorial logic to signal processing, but it has not been characterized on a large-scale basis. We developed two methods to identify protein isoforms that are both phosphorylated and ubiquitylated in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, identifying 466 proteins with 2,100 phosphorylation sites co-occurring with 2,189 ubiquitylation sites. We applied these methods quantitatively to identify phosphorylation sites that regulate protein degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Our results demonstrate that distinct phosphorylation sites are often used in conjunction with ubiquitylation and that these sites are more highly conserved than the entire set of phosphorylation sites. Finally, we investigated how the phosphorylation machinery can be regulated by ubiquitylation. We found evidence for novel regulatory mechanisms of kinases and 14-3-3 scaffold proteins via proteasome-independent ubiquitylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of a protein to carry out a given function results from fundamental physicochemical properties that include the protein's structure, mechanism of action, and thermodynamic stability. Traditional approaches to study these properties have typically required the direct measurement of the property of interest, oftentimes a laborious undertaking. Although protein properties can be probed by mutagenesis, this approach has been limited by its low throughput. Recent technological developments have enabled the rapid quantification of a protein's function, such as binding to a ligand, for numerous variants of that protein. Here, we measure the ability of 47,000 variants of a WW domain to bind to a peptide ligand and use these functional measurements to identify stabilizing mutations without directly assaying stability. Our approach is rooted in the well-established concept that protein function is closely related to stability. Protein function is generally reduced by destabilizing mutations, but this decrease can be rescued by stabilizing mutations. Based on this observation, we introduce partner potentiation, a metric that uses this rescue ability to identify stabilizing mutations, and identify 15 candidate stabilizing mutations in the WW domain. We tested six candidates by thermal denaturation and found two highly stabilizing mutations, one more stabilizing than any previously known mutation. Thus, physicochemical properties such as stability are latent within these large-scale protein functional data and can be revealed by systematic analysis. This approach should allow other protein properties to be discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rab small G proteins control membrane trafficking events required for many processes including secretion, lipid metabolism, antigen presentation and growth factor signaling. Rabs recruit effectors that mediate diverse functions including vesicle tethering and fusion. However, many mechanistic questions about Rab-regulated vesicle tethering are unresolved. Using chemically defined reaction systems, we discovered that Vps21, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae ortholog of mammalian endosomal Rab5, functions in trans with itself and with at least two other endosomal Rabs to directly mediate GTP-dependent tethering. Vps21-mediated tethering was stringently and reversibly regulated by an upstream activator, Vps9, and an inhibitor, Gyp1, which were sufficient to drive dynamic cycles of tethering and detethering. These experiments reveal a previously undescribed mode of tethering by endocytic Rabs. In our working model, the intrinsic tethering capacity Vps21 operates in concert with conventional effectors and SNAREs to drive efficient docking and fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered on top of information conveyed by DNA sequence and chromatin are higher order structures that encompass portions of chromosomes, entire chromosomes, and even whole genomes. Interphase chromosomes are not positioned randomly within the nucleus, but instead adopt preferred conformations. Disparate DNA elements co-localize into functionally defined aggregates or ‘factories’ for transcription and DNA replication. In budding yeast, Drosophila and many other eukaryotes, chromosomes adopt a Rabl configuration, with arms extending from centromeres adjacent to the spindle pole body to telomeres that abut the nuclear envelope. Nonetheless, the topologies and spatial relationships of chromosomes remain poorly understood. Here we developed a method to globally capture intra- and inter-chromosomal interactions, and applied it to generate a map at kilobase resolution of the haploid genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The map recapitulates known features of genome organization, thereby validating the method, and identifies new features. Extensive regional and higher order folding of individual chromosomes is observed. Chromosome XII exhibits a striking conformation that implicates the nucleolus as a formidable barrier to interaction between DNA sequences at either end. Inter-chromosomal contacts are anchored by centromeres and include interactions among transfer RNA genes, among origins of early DNA replication and among sites where chromosomal breakpoints occur. Finally, we constructed a three-dimensional model of the yeast genome. Our findings provide a glimpse of the interface between the form and function of a eukaryotic genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]