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Original Article
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- UBE2S promotes glycolysis in hepatocellular carcinoma by enhancing E3 enzyme-independent polyubiquitination of VHL
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Renyu Zhang1,2, Can Li1,2, Shuai Zhang1,2, Lingmin Kong1,2, Zekun Liu1,2, Yixiao Guo1,2, Ying Sun1,2, Cong Zhang1,2, Yule Yong1,2, Jianjun Lv1,2, Meng Lu1,2, Man Liu1,2, Dong Wu1,2, Tianjiao Zhang1,2, Haijiao Yang1,2, Ding Wei1,2, Zhinan Chen1,2, Huijie Bian1,2
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1Department of Cell Biology, National Translational Science Center for Molecular Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China
2State Key Laboratory of New Targets Discovery and Drug Development for Major Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China
- Corresponding author: Ding Wei ,Email: weidcq@fmmu.edu.cn
Zhinan Chen ,Email: znchen@fmmu.edu.cn
Huijie Bian ,Email: hjbian@fmmu.edu.cn
- Received: April 7, 2024; Revised: June 22, 2024 Accepted: June 24, 2024.
- Abstract
- Background/Aims
Ubiquitination is widely involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by regulating various cellular processes. However, systematic strategies for screening core ubiquitin-related genes, clarifying their functions and mechanisms, and ultimately developing potential therapeutics for patients with HCC are still lacking.
Methods
Cox and LASSO regression analyses were performed to construct a ubiquitin-related gene prediction model for HCC. Loss- and gain-of-function studies, transcriptomic and metabolomics analysis were used to explore the function and mechanism of UBE2S on HCC cell glycolysis and growth.
Results
Based on 1423 ubiquitin-related genes, a four-gene signature was successfully constructed to evaluate the prognosis of patients with HCC. UBE2S was identified in this signature with the potential to predict the survival of patients with HCC. E2F2 transcriptionally upregulated UBE2S expression by directly binding to its promoter. UBE2S positively regulated glycolysis in a HIF-1α-dependent manner, thus promoting the proliferation of HCC cells. Mechanistically, UBE2S enhanced K11-linkage polyubiquitination at lysine residues 171 and 196 of VHL independent of E3 ligase, thereby indirectly stabilizing HIF-1α protein levels by mediating the degradation of VHL by the proteasome. In particular, the combination of cephalomannine, a small molecule compound that inhibits the expression of UBE2S, and PX-478, an inhibitor of HIF-1α, significantly improved the anti-tumor efficacy.
Conclusions
UBE2S is identified as a key biomarker in HCC among the thousands of ubiquitin-related genes and promotes glycolysis by E3 enzyme-independent ubiquitination, thus serving as a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.
Keywords :ubiquitination, UBE2S, hepatocellular carcinoma, glycolysis, VHL/HIF-1α
