The Deubiquitinase USP39 Promotes Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Malignancy as a Splicing Factor.

Xiaolin Zhu, Jianlin Ma, Minyi Lu, Zhihua Liu, Yongkun Sun, Hongyan Chen

Genes 2022 May 03

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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an aggressive epithelial malignancy and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we identify that the ubiquitin-specific protease 39 (USP39) drives cell growth and chemoresistance by functional screening in ESCC, and that high expression of USP39 correlates with shorter overall survival and progression-free survival. Mechanistically, we provide evidence for the role of USP39 in alternative splicing regulation. USP39 interacts with several spliceosome components. Integrated analysis of RNA-seq and RIP-seq reveals that USP39 regulates the alternative splicing events. Taken together, our results indicate that USP39 functions as an oncogenic splicing factor and acts as a potential therapeutic target for ESCC.

Citation

Xiaolin Zhu, Jianlin Ma, Minyi Lu, Zhihua Liu, Yongkun Sun, Hongyan Chen. The Deubiquitinase USP39 Promotes Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Malignancy as a Splicing Factor. Genes. 2022 May 03;13(5)