Brassinosteroids (BRs) bind to the extracellular domain of the receptor kinase BRI1 to activate a signal transduction cascade that regulates nuclear gene expression and plant development. Many components of the BR signaling pathway have been identified and studied in detail. However, the substrate of BRI1 kinase that transduces the signal to downstream components remains unknown. Proteomic studies of plasma membrane proteins lead to the identification of three homologous BR-signaling kinases (BSK1, BSK2, and BSK3). The BSKs are phosphorylated by BRI1 in vitro and interact with BRI1 in vivo. Genetic and transgenic studies demonstrate that the BSKs represent a small family of kinases that activate BR signaling downstream of BRI1. These results demonstrate that BSKs are the substrates of BRI1 kinase that activate downstream BR signal transduction.

Adoption of targeted mass spectrometry (MS) approaches such as multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) to study biological and biomedical questions is well underway in the proteomics community. Successful application depends on the ability to generate reliable assays that uniquely and confidently identify target peptides in a sample. Unfortunately, there is a wide range of criteria being applied to say that an assay has been successfully developed. There is no consensus on what criteria are acceptable and little understanding of the impact of variable criteria on the quality of the results generated. Publications describing targeted MS assays for peptides frequently do not contain sufficient information for readers to establish confidence that the tests work as intended or to be able to apply the tests described in their own labs. Guidance must be developed so that targeted MS assays with established performance can be made widely distributed and applied by many labs worldwide. To begin to address the problems and their solutions, a workshop was held at the National Institutes of Health with representatives from the multiple communities developing and employing targeted MS assays. Participants discussed the analytical goals of their experiments and the experimental evidence needed to establish that the assays they develop work as intended and are achieving the required levels of performance. Using this "fit-for-purpose" approach, the group defined three tiers of assays distinguished by their performance and extent of analytical characterization. Computational and statistical tools useful for the analysis of targeted MS results were described. Participants also detailed the information that authors need to provide in their manuscripts to enable reviewers and readers to clearly understand what procedures were performed and to evaluate the reliability of the peptide or protein quantification measurements reported. This paper presents a summary of the meeting and recommendations.

Brassinosteroids trigger a receptor kinase-mediated signalling pathway to modulate plant development through the dephosphorylation of the BZR transcription factors, which are normally kept inactive by the kinase BIN2. The phosphatase PP2A is now found to be responsible for the dephosphorylation of BZR to trigger the signalling cascade. When brassinosteroid levels are low, the GSK3-like kinase BIN2 phosphorylates and inactivates the BZR1 transcription factor to inhibit growth in plants. Brassinosteroid promotes growth by inducing dephosphorylation of BZR1, but the phosphatase that dephosphorylates BZR1 has remained unknown. Here, using tandem affinity purification, we identified protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) as a BZR1-interacting protein. Genetic analyses demonstrated a positive role for PP2A in brassinosteroid signalling and BZR1 dephosphorylation. Members of the B’ regulatory subunits of PP2A directly interact with BZR1’s putative PEST domain containing the site of the bzr1-1D mutation. Interaction with and dephosphorylation by PP2A are enhanced by the bzr1-1D mutation, reduced by two intragenic bzr1-1D suppressor mutations, and abolished by deletion of the PEST domain. This study reveals a crucial function for PP2A in dephosphorylating and activating BZR1 and completes the set of core components of the brassinosteroid-signalling cascade from cell surface receptor kinase to gene regulation in the nucleus.

Local control of localized protein synthesis: Localized protein synthesis provides spatiotemporal precision for injury responses and growth decisions at remote positions in nerve axons. Terenzio et al. show that this process is controlled by local translation of preexisting axonal mRNA encoding the master regulator mTOR (see the Perspective by Riccio). mTOR controls both its own synthesis and that of most newly synthesized proteins at axonal injury sites, thereby determining the subsequent survival and growth of the injured neuron. Science , this issue p. 1416 ; see also p. 1331

A20 is a deubiquitinating enzyme that restrict inflammation by various mechanisms. Ma and colleagues show that A20 inhibits necroptosis by inhibiting the ubiquitination of RIPK3 and formation of the RIPK1-RIPK3 complex. A20 is an anti-inflammatory protein linked to multiple human diseases; however, the mechanisms by which A20 prevents inflammatory disease are incompletely defined. We found that A20-deficient T cells and fibroblasts were susceptible to caspase-independent and kinase RIPK3–dependent necroptosis. Global deficiency in RIPK3 significantly restored the survival of A20-deficient mice. A20-deficient cells exhibited exaggerated formation of RIPK1-RIPK3 complexes. RIPK3 underwent physiological ubiquitination at Lys5 (K5), and this ubiquitination event supported the formation of RIPK1-RIPK3 complexes. Both the ubiquitination of RIPK3 and formation of the RIPK1-RIPK3 complex required the catalytic cysteine of A20's deubiquitinating motif. Our studies link A20 and the ubiquitination of RIPK3 to necroptotic cell death and suggest additional mechanisms by which A20 might prevent inflammatory disease.