Synaptic defects in ataxia mice result from a mutation in Usp14, encoding a ubiquitin-specific protease

Mice that are homozygous with respect to a mutation (axJ) in the ataxia (ax) gene develop severe tremors by 2–3 weeks of age followed by hindlimb paralysis and death by 6–10 weeks of age1. Here we show that ax encodes ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (Usp14). Ubiquitin proteases are a large family of cysteine proteases that specifically cleave ubiquitin conjugates. Although Usp14 can cleave a ubiquitin-tagged protein in vitro, it is unable to process polyubiquitin2, which is believed to be associated with the protein aggregates seen in Parkinson disease3, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1; ref. 4) and gracile axonal dystrophy (GAD)5. The physiological substrate of Usp14 may therefore contain a mono-ubiquitin side chain, the removal of which would regulate processes such as protein localization6 and protein activity7,8. Expression of Usp14 is significantly altered in axJ/axJ mice as a result of the insertion of an intracisternal-A particle (IAP) into intron 5 of Usp14. In contrast to other neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson disease and SCA1 in humans and GAD in mice, neither ubiquitin-positive protein aggregates nor neuronal cell loss is detectable in the central nervous system (CNS) of axJ mice. Instead, axJ mice have defects in synaptic transmission in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. These results suggest that ubiquitin proteases are important in regulating synaptic activity in mammals.