Bendless-mediated K63 ubiquitination modulates cellular signalling to regulate Drosophila hematopoiesis

Abstract Ubiquitination is a reversible modification whose traditional role has been associated with K48-linked poly-ubiquitination involved in proteasomal degradation. However, the role of K63-linked poly-ubiquitination has been explored in various cellular processes like DNA repair, endocytosis, innate immune response, kinase activation, etc. Since K63-linked poly-ubiquitination can regulate the stability, localization, and activity of its target molecules, its regulation and function in various developmental and disease contexts are being explored. Here, we investigate how K63 ubiquitination regulates Drosophila blood cell homeostasis. Ubc13 (UBE2N), an E2 conjugating enzyme, is highly expressed in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), wherein it controls innate immune signalling for the survival of AML cells; however, its role during developmental hematopoiesis is less explored. In Drosophila, Bendless is the functional homolog of Ubc13, whose role in stem cell regulation and particularly hematopoiesis is unknown. Our results indicate that spatial genetic perturbation of Bendless and its associated molecules, namely Uev1a, Effete, and E3 ligase - Traf6, that mediate K63 ubiquitination are critical for maintaining hematopoietic progenitors and regulating their differentiation. We show that Bendless-mediated K63 ubiquitination controls the Wingless signalling pathway by regulating Dishevelled in the larval lymph gland (LG) thereby modulating hematopoietic progenitor maintenance and differentiation. Furthermore, an excess of K63 ubiquitination activates the JNK pathway in the LG, resulting in lamellocyte production. Genetic epistasis analysis shows that activation of the canonical Wingless pathway in the background of Bendless depletion or inactivation of the JNK pathway in Bendless over-expression conditions can restore physiological hematopoiesis. Our findings indicate that regulators of K63 ubiquitination, like Bendless, could act as molecular inter-nodes that are capable of signalling cross-regulation, especially where intricate signalling networks are involved. Our study provides important mechanistic insights into the signalling mechanisms regulated by K63 ubiquitination during stem cell homeostasis.