The D‐Box‐activating domain (DAD) is a new proteolysis signal that stimulates the silent D‐Box sequence of Aurora‐A

We have demonstrated previously that Xenopus Aurora‐A is degraded at late mitosis by the APC/Fizzy‐Related in a D‐Box‐dependent manner. Here we demonstrate that, although Aurora‐B possesses the same D‐Box as Aurora‐A, Aurora‐B is not degraded by this ubiquitin ligase. We have constructed a chimera Aurora‐A/B with the N‐terminus of Aurora‐A and the C‐terminus of Aurora‐B and we have examined its degradation by APC/Fizzy‐Related. We demonstrate that the N‐terminus of Aurora‐A confers degradation capacity on the C‐terminus of Aurora‐B and that this feature is blocked by mutation of the conserved D‐Box sequence. We characterize the minimal degradation signal at the N‐terminus of Aurora‐A and demonstrate that its deletion blocks the degradation of this protein by APC/Fizzy‐Related. Thus, we conclude that two different degradation signals are required for proteolysis of Aurora‐A. The first one, which we designated D‐Box‐activating domain, within the N‐terminal domain of Aurora‐A confers the functionality to the second, a silent D‐Box, present within the C‐terminus of the kinase.

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