BAG6 and RNF126 promote the degradation of cytosolic misfolded proteins that contain buried degron motifs

Missense mutations account for the majority of catalogued human disease-associated variants, and many are predicted to destabilize proteins and promote their degradation. To characterize the pathways responsible for recognizing and clearing such variants, we employed a two-pronged approach to identify both quality control components mediating turnover of misfolded proteins and the sequence elements within their substrates that drive this process. Using a panel of unstable cytosolic missense variants in proximity-labeling and RNAi-based experiments, we identified the BAG6-RNF126 pathway as contributing to the clearance of a subset of these substrates. Applying a tile-based approach to a model cytosolic protein, we uncovered strong potential degrons, including a C-terminal degron degraded in part in a BAG6- and RNF126-dependent manner. Modeling supports that this degron can be accommodated by BAG6. Together, our findings add to the growing body of evidence implicating the BAG6-RNF126 pathway as a key mediator of cytosolic protein quality control.