Sharon Kaisari, Ethan Lane, Raymond Wang, Jeffrey Estrada, Marta Collu, Daniele Simoneschi, Yeon-Tae Jeong, Mengxi Liu, Qingyue Zhang, Yuki Kito, Ifat Abramovich, Jason Yin, Tori Rodrick, Gyles Ward, Tyler Cropley, Adriana Heguy, Sang Yong Kim, Ran Brosh, Herman Wolosker, Namrat D Udeshi, Steven A Carr, Cynthia A Loomis, Feng-Xia Liang, Beatrix Ueberheide, Drew Jones, Ning Zheng, Michele Pagano
Cyclin D-CDK4/6 complexes drive cell-cycle entry through an RB-E2F-dependent transcriptional program, but how they coordinate proliferation with the membrane and organelle protein supply required for growth is unclear. We identify DeSI1 as a cyclin D-CDK4/6 substrate whose phosphorylation at S25 converts a latent homodimer into an active monomeric deubiquitylase that recognizes hydrophobic proteins such as those bearing transmembrane domains and mitochondrial targeting sequences. Phosphorylated DeSI1 extends the lifetime of newly synthesized hydrophobic proteins that support membrane and mitochondrial capacity. Constitutive DeSI1 activation uncouples this proteostatic program from metabolic supply, creating a cytidine-nucleotide supply-demand imbalance associated with impaired CTP-dependent phospholipid homeostasis, cardiolipin depletion, and mitochondrial decompensation - defects that cytidine reverses. In mice, constitutive DeSI1 activation causes progressive cerebellar degeneration with membrane-protein accumulation, respiratory-chain loss, and phospholipid depletion. These findings define a post-translational mechanism coupling cell-cycle entry to membrane and mitochondrial capacity, and reveal the cost of uncoupling this program from its metabolic support.