Doxorubicin-induced DNA damage causes extensive ubiquitination of ribosomal proteins associated with a decrease in protein translation

Abstract

Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) play a central role in the DNA damage response. In particular, protein phosphorylation and ubiquitination have been shown to be essential in the signalling cascade that coordinates break repair with cell cycle progression. Here, we performed whole-cell quantitative proteomics to identify global changes in protein ubiquitination that are induced by DNA double-strand breaks. In total, we quantified more than 9400 ubiquitin sites and found that the relative abundance of approximately 10% of these sites was altered in response to DNA double-strand breaks. Interestingly, a large proportion of ribosomal proteins, including those from the 40S as well as the 60S subunit, were ubiquitinated in response to DNA damage. In parallel, we discovered that DNA damage leads to the inhibition of ribosome function. Taken together, these data uncover the ribosome as a major target of the DNA damage response.