Controlling PTEN (Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog) Stability: a Dominant Role for Lysine 66

Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a phosphoinositide lipid phosphatase and one of the most frequently disrupted tumor suppressors in many forms of cancer, with even small reductions in the expression levels of PTEN promoting cancer development. Although the post-translational ubiquitination of PTEN can control its stability, activity, and localization, a detailed understanding of how PTEN ubiquitination integrates with other cellular regulatory processes and may be dysregulated in cancer has been hampered by a poor understanding of the significance of ubiquitination at individual sites. Here we show that Lys66 is not required for cellular activity, yet dominates over other PTEN ubiquitination sites in the regulation of protein stability. Notably, combined mutation of other sites (Lys13, Lys80, and Lys289) has relatively little effect on protein expression, protein stability, or PTEN polyubiquitination. The present work identifies a key role for Lys66 in the regulation of PTEN expression and provides both an opportunity to improve the stability of PTEN as a protein therapy and a mechanistic basis for efforts to stabilize endogenous PTEN.