Project description:Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by loss of tumor suppressor Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) function. VHL is the component of E3 ligase complex that promotes the ubiquitination and degradation of hypoxia inducible factor alpha (including HIF1alpha and HIF2alpha) and Zinc Fingers And Homeoboxes 2 (ZHX2). Our recent research showed that ZHX2 contributed to ccRCC tumorigenesis in a HIF independent manner. However, it remains unknown whether ZHX2 can be regulated through deubiquitination. Here we performed a deubiquitinase (DUB) cDNA library binding screen and identified USP13 as a novel DUB that bound ZHX2 and promoted ZHX2 deubiquitination. As a result, USP13 promoted ZHX2 protein stability in an enzymatically dependent manner and depletion of USP13 led to ZHX2 downregulation in ccRCC. Functionally, USP13 depletion led to decreased cell proliferation measured by 2-D colony formation and 3-D anchorage independent growth. USP was a critical effector on maintaining kidney tumorigenesis in an orthotopic xenograft model and its depletion led to both decreased primary kidney tumorigenesis and spontaneous lung metastasis. Our results suggest that USP13 is a potential new therapeutic target in ccRCC.
Project description:Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by a loss of tumor suppressor Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) function, which leads to accumulation of hypoxia inducible factor (including HIF1 and HIF2). HIF2 was previously reported to be one of the major oncogenic drivers in ccRCC, however its therapeutic targeting remains challenging. Here we performed a deubiquitinase (DUB) cDNA library binding screen and discovered that USP37 is a DUB that binds HIF2 and promotes HIF2 deubiquitination. As a result, USP37 promotes HIF2 protein stability in an enzymatically dependent manner and depletion of USP37 leads to HIF2 downregulation in ccRCC. Functionally, USP37 depletion causes decreased cell proliferation measured by MTS, 2-D colony formation as well as 3-D anchorage independent growth. USP37 is also essential for maintaining kidney tumorigenesis in an orthotopic xenograft model and its depletion leads to decreased primary kidney tumorigenesis and spontaneous lung metastasis. Our results suggest that USP37 is a potential new therapeutic target in ccRCC.
Project description:Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by the loss of tumor suppressor Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) function. VHL is the component of an E3 ligase complex that promotes the ubiquitination and degradation of hypoxia inducible factor α (HIF-α) (including HIF1α and HIF2α) and Zinc Fingers And Homeoboxes 2 (ZHX2). Our recent research showed that ZHX2 contributed to ccRCC tumorigenesis in a HIF-independent manner. However, it is still unknown whether ZHX2 could be modified through deubiquitination even in the absence of pVHL. Here, we performed a deubiquitinase (DUB) complementary DNA (cDNA) library binding screen and identified USP13 as a DUB that bound ZHX2 and promoted ZHX2 deubiquitination. As a result, USP13 promoted ZHX2 protein stability in an enzymatically dependent manner, and depletion of USP13 led to ZHX2 down-regulation in ccRCC. Functionally, USP13 depletion led to decreased cell proliferation measured by two-dimensional (2D) colony formation and three-dimensional (3D) anchorage-independent growth. Furthermore, USP13 was essential for ccRCC tumor growth in vivo, and the effect was partially mediated by its regulation on ZHX2. Our findings support that USP13 may be a key effector in ccRCC tumorigenesis.
Project description:Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and highly lethal disease. Due to its heterogeneity and lack of hormone receptors or HER2 expression, it is critical to identify novel therapeutic targets in TNBC. Analysis of copy number and gene expression in tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas suggested that ZHX2 was amplified and overexpressed in breast cancer patients. Correspondingly, we found that ZHX2 was highly expressed in TNBC cell lines and TNBC patient tissues. Functionally, depletion of ZHX2 inhibited TNBC cell growth and invasion in vitro, orthotopic tumor growth and spontaneous lung metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, ZHX2 bound with Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) family members and positively regulated HIF1 activity in TNBC by using loss-of-function or gain-of-function studies. Our integrated ChIP-Seq and gene expression profiling demonstrated that ZHX2 co-occupied with HIF1 on transcriptionally active promoters marked by H3K4me3 and H3K27Ac, therefore promoting gene expression. Furthermore, structural simulation and functional studies revealed that multiple residues (R491, R581 and R674) are important in regulating the phenotype of ZHX2 on TNBC tumorigenic potential, which correspond with their roles on controlling HIF1 activity in TNBC cells. These studies establish that ZHX2 activates oncogenic HIF1 signaling, therefore serving as a potential therapeutic target for TNBC.
Project description:In order to explore the biological function and molecular mechanism of ZHX2 in VSMCs,in this study, we overexpressed ZHX2 in primery VSMCs used chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) methods to systematically investigate the downstream targets of ZHX2.
Project description:Primary rat VSMCs were infected with Ad-Control and Ad-ZHX2 and stimulated with PDGF-BB of 24h. RNAseq and differential expression analysis were performed to investigate the role of ZHX2 in VSMCs.