Amide 1H and 15N NMR signal assignments of all naturally-occurring di-ubiquitins

Abstract Ubiquitin acts as a building block for a wide variety of poly-ubiquitin chains. Decoding the role of poly-ubiquitin chains in different cellular processes remains an active area of research. Here, we report amide 1 H and 15 N signal assignments of each ubiquitin unit in di-ubiquitins of all seven lysine linkages and in M1-linked di-ubiquitin determined by our lab over the last decade. These assignments can aid in NMR studies of the structure, dynamics, and function of various di-ubiquitins. Comparison of the NMR resonance assignments among all the di-ubiquitins revealed linkage-specific chemical shifts and isopeptide signals that can be used as “fingerprints” to directly identify using NMR spectroscopy the linkage type in a di-ubiquitin and potentially longer poly-ubiquitin chains. Our data highlight both the similarities and dissimilarities of NMR signals of ubiquitin units in di-ubiquitins of different linkages, as well as the importance of selective isotopic labeling of specific ubiquitin units in a poly-ubiquitin chain for NMR studies.