Cytosolic degradation of T-cell receptor alpha chains by the proteasome

The T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) is an hetero-oligomeric membrane complex composed of at least seven transmembrane polypeptide chains that has served as a model for the assembly and degradation of integral membrane proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Unassembled TCRalpha chains fail to mature to the Golgi apparatus and are rapidly degraded by a non-lysosomal "ER degradation" pathway that has been proposed to be autonomous to the ER. In these studies we show that the degradation of core-glycosylated TCRalpha is blocked by N-acetyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-norleucinal (ALLN) and lactacystin, implicating the proteasome in ER degradation. Either acute or chronic treatment of TCRalpha-transfected cells with proteasome inhibitors cause the core-glycosylated TCRalpha chains to progressively shift to an approximately 28-kDa form that lacks N-linked oligosaccharides and the N-terminal signal peptide. The susceptibility of this 28-kDa species to extravesicular protease indicates that it is not protected by the ER membrane and, hence, cytoplasmic. These data suggest a model in which TCRalpha chains that are translocated across the membrane, core-glycosylated, but fail to assemble are dislocated back to the cytoplasm for degradation by cytoplasmic proteasomes. Our data also suggest that covalent modification of TCRalpha with ubiquitin is not required for its degradation.