Affinage

RNF34

E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase RNF34 · UniProt Q969K3

Length
372 aa
Mass
41.6 kDa
Annotated
2026-06-10
17 papers in source corpus 10 papers cited in narrative 10 extracted findings
Cross-family judge vs UniProt: Affinage preferred faithfulness: 5/5 claims corpus-supported (100%)

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

RNF34 is a RING-domain E3 ubiquitin ligase that acts as a substrate-selective degradation factor across innate immune signaling, mitochondrial homeostasis, and synaptic regulation (PMID:31304625, PMID:22064484, PMID:25193658). In antiviral immunity it binds mitochondrial MAVS after viral infection and catalyzes K27-/K29-linked polyubiquitination (with a K63-to-K27 linkage transition at Lys311), generating a recognition signal for NDP52-dependent selective autophagic degradation that dampens RLR-mediated signaling (PMID:31304625); this MAVS-clearing activity is also recruited via TAX1BP1 to suppress NLRP3 inflammasome activation under ischemic stress (PMID:36654301). In a distinct endosomal context, RNF34 assembles with ZFYVE21 and Rubicon into a 'ZRR' complex on early endosomes and ubiquitinates the caspase-1 pseudosubstrate Flightless I (FliI) for removal, thereby promoting NLRP3 inflammasome activity (PMID:37225719). RNF34 restrains mitochondrial biogenesis and thermogenesis by ubiquitinating PGC-1α through a C-terminal degron for proteasomal degradation, a function conserved from Drosophila and relevant to oxidative stress in neurons (PMID:22064484, PMID:30247505, PMID:31704983). It additionally ubiquitinates the GABAA receptor γ2 subunit to drive receptor degradation and limit GABAergic synapse density (PMID:25193658), targets NOD1 to suppress NF-κB activation (PMID:25012219), degrades p22phox to limit NADPH oxidase-derived ROS in vascular smooth muscle (PMID:34015492), and recognizes unfolded CFTR NBD1 in peripheral quality control (PMID:35355508).

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 10 steps
  1. 2011 High

    Established RNF34 as a functional E3 ligase by identifying PGC-1α as a degradation substrate, defining a new C-terminal degradation route independent of the known N-terminal phosphodegron and linking RNF34 to thermogenic/mitochondrial control.

    Evidence Luciferase overexpression screen, Co-IP, ubiquitination assay with ligase-dead control, and oxygen consumption/UCP1 readouts in brown fat cells

    PMID:22064484

    Open questions at the time
    • Ubiquitin linkage type on PGC-1α not defined
    • Specific PGC-1α lysine acceptor sites not mapped
  2. 2014 High

    Extended RNF34 substrate range into synaptic biology, showing it ubiquitinates the GABAA receptor γ2 subunit to control receptor turnover and synapse density.

    Evidence Yeast two-hybrid, Co-IP from brain, γ2 lysine-to-arginine mutagenesis, inhibitor pharmacology, and neuronal overexpression/knockdown with cluster-density readouts

    PMID:25193658

    Open questions at the time
    • Dual lysosomal/proteasomal routing not mechanistically resolved
    • Linkage specificity not determined
  3. 2014 Medium

    Implicated RNF34 in innate immune signaling by showing it degrades NOD1 to suppress NF-κB activation.

    Evidence Yeast two-hybrid, Co-IP, GST pulldown, NF-κB reporter, and siRNA knockdown

    PMID:25012219

    Open questions at the time
    • Single lab without reciprocal in vivo validation
    • Ubiquitin sites and linkage on NOD1 unmapped
  4. 2018 Medium

    Confirmed evolutionary conservation of the RNF34–PGC-1 axis and its physiological consequences for mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolism through genetic epistasis.

    Evidence Drosophila muscle-specific RNAi, biochemical ubiquitination in HEK293T, and double-knockdown epistasis with dPGC-1

    PMID:30247505

    Open questions at the time
    • Ortholog evidence not directly extrapolated to mammalian tissues here
    • Single lab
  5. 2019 High

    Resolved how RNF34 negatively regulates antiviral signaling, defining specific K27-/K29-linked MAVS ubiquitination sites and a K63-to-K27 transition that routes MAVS to NDP52-dependent selective autophagy.

    Evidence Co-IP, linkage-specific ubiquitination assays, MAVS lysine mutagenesis, NDP52 interaction studies, and autophagy flux assays

    PMID:31304625

    Open questions at the time
    • Trigger for the K63-to-K27 linkage switch unknown
    • Upstream signals controlling RNF34 recruitment to MAVS unresolved
  6. 2019 Medium

    Placed the RNF34–PGC-1α axis in a disease context, showing RNF34 potentiates mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress after intracerebral hemorrhage.

    Evidence Co-IP, ubiquitination assay, RNF34 transgenic mouse, and ROS/ATP/MnSOD measurements

    PMID:31704983

    Open questions at the time
    • Neuronal-specific regulation of RNF34 expression not defined
    • Single lab
  7. 2021 Medium

    Identified p22phox as an RNF34 substrate, linking RNF34 to control of NADPH oxidase assembly and vascular ROS, hypertension, and remodeling.

    Evidence Co-IP, ubiquitination assay, SMC-specific conditional knockout mice, NADPH oxidase activity, and p22phox knockdown rescue

    PMID:34015492

    Open questions at the time
    • Ubiquitin sites on p22phox unmapped
    • Single lab
  8. 2021 Medium

    Connected RNF34's MAVS-clearing activity to inflammasome control, showing TAX1BP1-recruited RNF34 limits NLRP3 activation in ischemic cardiomyocytes.

    Evidence Co-IP, ubiquitination assay, RNF34 siRNA rescue, adenoviral TAX1BP1 overexpression, and mitochondrial membrane potential readouts

    PMID:36654301

    Open questions at the time
    • Mechanism of TAX1BP1-dependent recruitment of RNF34 not detailed
    • Single lab
  9. 2022 Medium

    Revealed a quality-control role for RNF34, showing it directly recognizes unfolded CFTR NBD1 to drive peripheral degradation of mutant CFTR.

    Evidence In vitro ubiquitination with recombinant proteins, fluorescence localization, RNF34/RFFL ablation, and CFTR-NLuc degradation and PM density assays

    PMID:35355508

    Open questions at the time
    • Functional redundancy with RFFL not fully separated
    • Structural basis of unfolded-NBD1 recognition unknown
  10. 2023 High

    Defined an inflammasome-promoting role on endosomes, placing RNF34 in a ZFYVE21–Rubicon–RNF34 complex that removes the caspase-1 pseudosubstrate FliI to enable NLRP3 activation.

    Evidence AP-MS of sorted inflammasomes, Co-IP, endosomal fractionation, endothelial functional studies, three in vivo mouse models, and human tissue validation

    PMID:37225719

    Open questions at the time
    • Reconciliation of RNF34's pro- versus anti-inflammasome roles across contexts unresolved
    • FliI ubiquitination sites not mapped

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • How RNF34 selects among its diverse substrates and switches between distinct ubiquitin linkages and degradation fates (autophagic versus proteasomal versus lysosomal) in different subcellular compartments remains unresolved.
  • No unifying model of substrate recruitment specificity
  • Determinants of linkage choice (K27/K29/K63/K48) per substrate undefined
  • Structural basis of RNF34 catalysis not characterized in the corpus

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification · explore literature graph →
Molecular activity
GO:0140096 catalytic activity, acting on a protein 5 GO:0016874 ligase activity 3
Localization
GO:0005768 endosome 2 GO:0005634 nucleus 1 GO:0005739 mitochondrion 1 GO:0005829 cytosol 1
Pathway
R-HSA-168256 Immune System 4 R-HSA-392499 Metabolism of proteins 3 R-HSA-1430728 Metabolism 2 R-HSA-9612973 Autophagy 2
Complex memberships
ZFYVE21-Rubicon-RNF34 (ZRR) complex

Evidence

Reading pass · 10 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
2019 RNF34 binds to MAVS in the mitochondrial compartment after viral infection and catalyzes K27-/K29-linked ubiquitination of MAVS at Lys 297, 311, 348, and 362, serving as a recognition signal for NDP52-dependent autophagic degradation. RNF34 also initiates a K63- to K27-linked ubiquitination transition on MAVS primarily at Lys 311, facilitating autophagic degradation upon RIG-I stimulation and negatively regulating RLR-mediated antiviral immunity. Co-immunoprecipitation, ubiquitination assays with linkage-specific antibodies, site-directed mutagenesis of MAVS lysine residues, NDP52 interaction studies, autophagy flux assays The EMBO journal High 31304625
2011 RNF34 is a nuclear E3 ubiquitin ligase that interacts with and ubiquitinates PGC-1α to promote its proteasomal degradation via its C-terminal half, independently of the previously identified N-terminal phosphodegron motif. Knockdown of RNF34 in brown fat cells increases PGC-1α protein level, UCP1 expression, and oxygen consumption; cold exposure and β3-adrenergic signaling suppress RNF34 expression. Luciferase-based overexpression screen, co-immunoprecipitation, ubiquitination assay, RNF34 knockdown and overexpression with ligase-dead mutant control, oxygen consumption measurement Molecular and cellular biology High 22064484
2014 RNF34 interacts with the large intracellular loop of the GABAA receptor γ2 subunit and ubiquitinates it, promoting GABAAR degradation via both lysosomal and proteasomal pathways. Mutating several lysines in the γ2 intracellular loop to arginines renders the subunit resistant to RNF34-induced degradation. RNF34 overexpression in hippocampal neurons decreases γ2 GABAAR cluster density and GABAergic innervation, while RNF34 knockdown increases them. Yeast two-hybrid, in vitro pulldown, co-immunoprecipitation from brain extracts, co-transfection in HEK293 cells, ubiquitination assay, site-directed mutagenesis of γ2 lysines, leupeptin/MG132 inhibitor experiments, immunofluorescence of hippocampal neurons, electron microscopy immunocytochemistry, shRNA knockdown The Journal of biological chemistry High 25193658
2014 RNF34 interacts with NOD1 and promotes its ubiquitination and degradation, negatively regulating NOD1-dependent NF-κB activation. RNF34 overexpression inhibits NOD1-dependent NF-κB activation, while RNF34 siRNA knockdown increases NF-κB activation upon NOD1 overexpression or ligand stimulation. Yeast two-hybrid screening, co-immunoprecipitation, GST pulldown, western blotting for NOD1 stability and ubiquitination, NF-κB reporter assay, siRNA knockdown Cellular physiology and biochemistry Medium 25012219
2019 RNF34 interacts with PGC-1α in neurons and targets it for ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal degradation, thereby potentiating mitochondrial dysfunction-mediated oxidative stress after intracerebral hemorrhage. RNF34 overexpression exacerbated ICH-induced decreases in PGC-1α, UCP2, and MnSOD expression. Co-immunoprecipitation, ubiquitination assay, RNF34 transgenic mouse model, measurement of ROS, mitochondrial ROS, ATP production, western blotting Scientific reports Medium 31704983
2022 RNF34 participates in peripheral quality control of CFTR by directly recognizing CFTR NBD1 and selectively promoting ubiquitination of unfolded proteins. RNF34 localizes to cytoplasm and endosomes. Simultaneous ablation of RNF34 and RFFL dramatically increases functional plasma membrane expression of ∆F508-CFTR and inhibits its degradation in post-Golgi compartments. In vitro ubiquitination assay with recombinant proteins, subcellular localization by fluorescence microscopy, RNF34 ablation (siRNA/knockout), CFTR-NLuc degradation assay, flow cytometry for PM density Frontiers in molecular biosciences Medium 35355508
2021 RNF34 interacts with p22phox in vascular smooth muscle cells and promotes its ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation. Loss of RNF34 in smooth muscle cells increases p22phox protein stability, enhancing p22phox/p47phox and p22phox/NOX2 binding, NADPH oxidase complex formation, and ROS generation, leading to cerebrovascular remodeling and hypertension. Immunoprecipitation, ubiquitination assay, conditional (SMC-specific) RNF34 knockout mice, ROS measurement, NADPH oxidase activity assay, p22phox knockdown rescue experiment Neurobiology of disease Medium 34015492
2021 RNF34 is recruited to interact with TAX1BP1 and facilitates autophagic degradation of MAVS through K27-linked polyubiquitination. This interaction suppresses NLRP3 mitochondrial localization and inflammasome activation in cardiomyocytes under ischemic stress. Knockdown of RNF34 nullified TAX1BP1-mediated protection against MAVS mitochondrial accumulation and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Co-immunoprecipitation, ubiquitination assay, siRNA knockdown of RNF34, adenoviral overexpression of TAX1BP1, mitochondrial membrane potential measurement Science bulletin Medium 36654301
2018 Drosophila RNF34 (dRNF34) ubiquitinates Drosophila PGC-1 (dPGC-1) and promotes its degradation. Muscle-specific knockdown of dRNF34 in vivo promotes mitochondrial biogenesis, improves locomotor performance, and counteracts high-fat-diet-induced triglyceride accumulation; these effects are reversed by co-knockdown of dPGC-1, establishing genetic epistasis. Immunoprecipitation and western blotting in HEK293T cells, in vivo RNAi using muscle-specific Gal4 driver, mitochondrial biogenesis assays, climbing/exercise assays, triglyceride measurement, epistasis by double knockdown Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica Medium 30247505
2023 RNF34 forms a 'ZRR' complex with ZFYVE21 (a Rab5 effector) and Rubicon on early endosomes. Within this complex, RNF34 ubiquitinates and degradatively removes Flightless I (FliI) — an inhibitory pseudosubstrate of caspase-1 — from the signaling endosome, thereby increasing endosome-associated caspase-1 available for activation and promoting NLRP3 inflammasome activity in endothelial cells. Proteomics/AP-MS of FACS-sorted inflammasomes, co-immunoprecipitation, endosomal fractionation, RNF34 functional studies in endothelial cells, in vivo mouse models (three models), human tissue validation Nature communications High 37225719

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 17 papers · ranked by NIH iCite citations
Year Title Journal Citations PMID
2019 RNF34 functions in immunity and selective mitophagy by targeting MAVS for autophagic degradation. The EMBO journal 112 31304625
1999 Intermediates of rifamycin polyketide synthase produced by an Amycolatopsis mediterranei mutant with inactivated rifF gene. Microbiology (Reading, England) 47 10627035
2011 RNF34 is a cold-regulated E3 ubiquitin ligase for PGC-1α and modulates brown fat cell metabolism. Molecular and cellular biology 42 22064484
2021 TAX1BP1 protects against myocardial infarction-associated cardiac anomalies through inhibition of inflammasomes in a RNF34/MAVS/NLRP3-dependent manner. Science bulletin 38 36654301
2002 Expression and purification of the rifamycin amide synthase, RifF, an enzyme homologous to the prokaryotic arylamine N-acetyltransferases. Protein expression and purification 29 11812235
2014 Ring finger protein 34 (RNF34) interacts with and promotes γ-aminobutyric acid type-A receptor degradation via ubiquitination of the γ2 subunit. The Journal of biological chemistry 28 25193658
2019 RNF34 overexpression exacerbates neurological deficits and brain injury in a mouse model of intracerebral hemorrhage by potentiating mitochondrial dysfunction-mediated oxidative stress. Scientific reports 24 31704983
2014 The E3 ligase RNF34 is a novel negative regulator of the NOD1 pathway. Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology 20 25012219
2022 The Ubiquitin Ligase RNF34 Participates in the Peripheral Quality Control of CFTR (RNF34 Role in CFTR PeriQC). Frontiers in molecular biosciences 15 35355508
2021 RNF34 ablation promotes cerebrovascular remodeling and hypertension by increasing NADPH-derived ROS generation. Neurobiology of disease 11 34015492
2018 RNF34 modulates the mitochondrial biogenesis and exercise capacity in muscle and lipid metabolism through ubiquitination of PGC-1 in Drosophila. Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica 10 30247505
2023 A ZFYVE21-Rubicon-RNF34 signaling complex promotes endosome-associated inflammasome activity in endothelial cells. Nature communications 6 37225719
2014 A new Riff: Rif1 eats its cake and has it too. EMBO reports 5 24769453
2024 Identification and Functional Analysis of Cynoglossus semilaevis Z-Linked E3 Ubiquitin Ligase rnf34. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 1 38275772
2026 IGF2BP stabilizes RNF34 mRNA to orchestrate apoptosis and host susceptibility to Vibrio splendidus in Apostichopus japonicus. Fish & shellfish immunology 0 41544989
2026 Duck plague virus LORF2 utilizes RNF34 to inhibit antiviral innate immunity by ubiquitination and degradation of IRF7. PLoS pathogens 0 42030364
2025 RNF34 negatively regulates innate immunity via ubiquitin-mediated TAK1 degradation in miiuy croaker (Miichthysmiiuy). Fish & shellfish immunology 0 40701449

Missed literature

Know a paper Affinage missed for RNF34? Flag it for the maintainers and the community.

No submissions yet.