Abstract

ISG15 is a ubiquitin-like protein that conjugates to numerous proteins in cells treated with interferon or lipopolysaccharide. Dysregulation of protein ISG15 modification (ISGylation) in mice leads to decreased life expectancy, brain cell injury, and hypersensitivity to interferon. Although ISG15 was identified more than two decades ago, the exact biochemical and physiological functions of ISG15-modification remain unknown, and the proteins targeted by ISG15 have not been identified. The major purpose of this work was to identify ISG15 targets among well characterized proteins that could be used as models for biological studies. We purified ISGylated proteins from human thymus by immunoaffinity chromatography and analyzed ISG15 conjugates by a high-throughput Western blot screen (PowerBlot). We found that three key regulators of signal transduction, phospholipase Cgamma1, Jak1, and ERK1 are modified by ISG15. In addition to that, we demonstrate that transcription factor Stat1, an immediate substrate of Jak1 kinase, is also ISGylated. Using whole cell protein extracts and phospholipase Cgamma1 as an example we demonstrate that ISG15 conjugates are not accumulated in cells treated with specific inhibitors of proteasomes. Our work suggests a role for ISG15 in the regulation of multiple signal transduction pathways and offers attractive models to further elucidate the biochemical function of ISGylation.