Remodeling of the protein ubiquitylation landscape in the aging vertebrate brain

Abstract

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) regulate protein homeostasis and function. How aging affects the landscape of PTMs remains largely elusive. Here, we reveal changes in hundreds of protein ubiquitylation, acetylation, and phosphorylation sites in the aging brain of mice. We show that aging has a major impact on protein ubiquitylation and that 29% of the ubiquitylation sites are affected independently of protein abundance, indicating altered PTM stoichiometry. We found a subset of these sites to be also affected in the brain of the short-lived killifish Nothobranchius furzeri, highlighting a conserved aging phenotype. Furthermore, we estimated that over 35% of ubiquitylation changes observed in old mouse brains derive from partial proteasome inhibition, a well-established hallmark of brain aging. Our findings provide evidence of an evolutionarily conserved ubiquitylation signature of the aging brain and establish a causal link between proteasome inhibition and age-related remodeling of the ubiquitylome.