Roles of E3 ubiquitin ligases in cell adhesion and migration

Recent studies have demonstrated that a number of E3 ubiquitin ligases, including Cbl, Smurf1, Smurf2, HDM2, BCA2, SCF beta-TRCP and XRNF185, play important roles in cell adhesion and migration. Cbl negatively regulates cell adhesion via a integrin and Rap1 and inhibits actin polymerization by ubiquitinating mDab1 and WAVEVE2. Smurf1 regulates cell migration through ubiquitination of RhoA, talin head domain and hPEM2, while Smurf2 ubiquitinates Smurf1, TGF beta type I receptor and Rap1B to modulate cell migration and adhesion. HDM2 negatively regulates cell migration by targeting NFAT (a transcription factor) for ubiquitination and degradation, while SCF beta-TRCP ubiquitinates Snail (a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin) to inhibit cell migration. TRIRIM32 promotes cell migration through ubiquitination of Abl interactor 2 (Abi2), a tumor suppressor. RNF5 and XRNF185 modulate cell migration by ubiquitinating paxillin. Thus, these E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate cell adhesion and (or) migration through ubiquitination of their specific substrates.