The ZZ domain of HERC2 is a receptor of arginylated substrates.
Tencer, A.H., Liu, J., Zhu, J., Burkholder, N.T., Zhang, Y., Wu, W., Strahl, B.D., Ohta, T., Kutateladze, T.G.(2022) Sci Rep 12: 6063-6063
- PubMed: 35411094 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10119-w
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
7RGW - PubMed Abstract: 
The E3 ubiquitin ligase HERC2 has been linked to neurological diseases and cancer, however it remains a poorly characterized human protein. Here, we show that the ZZ domain of HERC2 (HERC2 ZZ ) recognizes a mimetic of the Nt-R cargo degradation signal. NMR titration experiments and mutagenesis results reveal that the Nt-R mimetic peptide occupies a well-defined binding site of HERC2 ZZ comprising of the negatively charged aspartic acids. We report the crystal structure of the DOC domain of HERC2 (HERC2 DOC ) that is adjacent to HERC2 ZZ and show that a conformational rearrangement in the protein may occur when the two domains are linked. Immunofluorescence microscopy data suggest that the stimulation of autophagy promotes targeting of HERC2 to the proteasome. Our findings suggest a role of cytosolic HERC2 in the ubiquitin-dependent degradation pathways.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.