ERK inhibits Capicua repressor function via multisite phosphorylation

The receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway controls cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. The transcriptional repressor Capicua (Cic) has emerged as a key target for ERK-mediated downregulation in Drosophila and mammals, and pathogenic variants in human CIC result in cancer and neurological diseases. Phosphorylation by ERK (Rolled in flies) is critical for Cic downregulation, but the identities of phosphosites in Drosophila Cic are unknown. Here, we identify sites of phosphorylation in Cic that are directly targeted by ERK and validate their developmental functions in vivo using mutant Cic variants. Cic phosphosites are distributed throughout the length of the protein. Cic mutated in 20 high-confidence sites is resistant to proteasomal degradation and behaves as a 'super-repressor' in vivo that is largely insensitive to ERK-mediated downregulation. No single site is sufficient to turn off Cic activity; instead, we find that ERK must phosphorylate multiple sites in Cic simultaneously to achieve full downregulation. This multisite phosphorylation likely involves phosphodegrons that are recognized by ubiquitin ligases such as Ago (FBXW7 in mammals), contributing to Cic degradation. This study advances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of signal interpretation downstream of the RTK/ERK signaling network.