Ube2v1 Positively Regulates Protein Aggregation by Modulating Ubiquitin Proteasome System Performance Partially Through K63 Ubiquitination

Rationale: Compromised protein quality control can result in proteotoxic intracellular protein aggregates in the heart, leading to cardiac disease and heart failure. Defining the participants and understanding the underlying mechanisms of cardiac protein aggregation is critical for seeking therapeutic targets. We identified Ube2v1 (ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 variant 1) in a genome-wide screen designed to identify novel effectors of the aggregation process. However, its role in the cardiomyocyte is undefined. Objective: To assess whether Ube2v1 regulates the protein aggregation caused by cardiomyocyte expression of a mutant αB crystallin (CryAB R120G ) and identify how Ube2v1 exerts its effect. Methods and Results: Neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes were infected with adenoviruses expressing either wild-type CryAB (CryAB WT ) or CryAB R120G . Subsequently, loss- and gain-of-function experiments were performed. Ube2v1 knockdown decreased aggregate accumulation caused by CryAB R120G expression. Overexpressing Ube2v1 promoted aggregate formation in CryAB WT and CryAB R120G -expressing neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes. Ubiquitin proteasome system performance was analyzed using a ubiquitin proteasome system reporter protein. Ube2v1 knockdown improved ubiquitin proteasome system performance and promoted the degradation of insoluble ubiquitinated proteins in CryAB R120G cardiomyocytes but did not alter autophagic flux. Lys (K) 63-linked ubiquitination modulated by Ube2v1 expression enhanced protein aggregation and contributed to Ube2v1’s function in regulating protein aggregate formation. Knocking out Ube2v1 exclusively in cardiomyocytes by using AAV9 (adeno-associated virus 9) to deliver multiplexed single guide RNAs against Ube2v1 in cardiac-specific Cas9 mice alleviated CryAB R120G -induced protein aggregation, improved cardiac function, and prolonged lifespan in vivo. Conclusions: Ube2v1 plays an important role in protein aggregate formation, partially by enhancing K63 ubiquitination during a proteotoxic stimulus. Inhibition of Ube2v1 decreases CryAB R120G -induced aggregate formation through enhanced ubiquitin proteasome system performance rather than autophagy and may provide a novel therapeutic target to treat cardiac proteinopathies.