Protein LMBR1L
endoplasmic reticulum membrane
LMBR1L regulates lymphopoiesis through Wnt/β-catenin signaling.
Precise control of Wnt signaling is necessary for immune system development. In this study, we detected severely impaired development of all lymphoid lineages in mice, resulting from an <i>N</i>-ethyl-<i>N</i>-nitrosourea-induced mutation in the limb region 1-like gene (<i>Lmbr1l</i>), which encodes a membrane-spanning protein with no previously described function in immunity. The interaction of LMBR1L with glycoprotein 78 (GP78) and ubiquitin-associated domain-containing protein 2 (UBAC2) attenuated Wnt signaling in lymphocytes by preventing the maturation of FZD6 and LRP6 through ubiquitination within the endoplasmic reticulum and by stabilizing "destruction complex" proteins. LMBR1L-deficient T cells exhibited hallmarks of Wnt/β-catenin activation and underwent apoptotic cell death in response to proliferative stimuli. LMBR1L has an essential function during lymphopoiesis and lymphoid activation, acting as a negative regulator of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.