The polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor responsible for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy inhibits the APC/C(Cdh1) ubiquitin ligase complex.

Polyglutamine expansion in the androgen receptor (AR) causes spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), an X-linked neuromuscular disease that is fully manifest only in males. It has been suggested that proteins with expanded polyglutamine tracts impair ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis due to their propensity to aggregate, but recent studies indicate that the overall activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system is preserved in SBMA models. Here we report that AR selectively interferes with the function of the ubiquitin ligase anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), which, together with its substrate adaptor Cdh1, is critical for cell cycle arrest and neuronal architecture. We show that both wild-type and mutant AR physically interact with the APC/C(Cdh1) complex in a ligand-dependent fashion without being targeted for proteasomal degradation. Inhibition of APC/C(Cdh1) by mutant but not wild-type AR in PC12 cells results in enhanced neurite outgrowth which is typically followed by rapid neurite retraction and mitotic entry. Our data indicate a role of AR in neuronal differentiation through regulation of APC/C(Cdh1) and suggest abnormal cell cycle reactivation as a pathogenic mechanism in SBMA.