Multiple phosphorylation of the Cdc48/p97 cofactor protein Shp1/p47 occurs upon cell stress in budding yeast

The homohexameric p97 complex, composed of Cdc48 subunits in yeast, is a crucial component of protein quality control pathways including ER-associated degradation. The complex acts to segregate protein complexes in an ATP-dependent manner, requiring the engagement of cofactor proteins that determine substrate specificity. The function of different Cdc48 cofactors and how they are regulated remains relatively poorly understood. In this study, we assess the phosphorylation of Cdc48 adaptor proteins, revealing a unique and distinctive phosphorylation pattern of Shp1/p47 that changed in response to TORC1 inhibition. Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that this pattern corresponded to phosphorylation at residues S108 and S315 of Shp1, with the double-phosphorylated form becoming predominant upon TORC1 inhibition, ER-stress, and oxidative stress. Finally, we assessed candidate kinases and phosphatases responsible for Shp1 phosphorylation and identified two regulators. We found that cells lacking the kinase Mpk1/Slt2 show reduced Shp1 phosphorylation, whereas impaired PP1 phosphatase catalytic subunit (Glc7) activity resulted in increased Shp1 phosphorylation. Overall, these findings identify a phosphoregulation of Shp1 at multiple sites by Mpk1 kinase and PP1 phosphatase upon various stresses.