1. Academic Validation
  2. USP26 promotes anaplastic thyroid cancer progression by stabilizing TAZ

USP26 promotes anaplastic thyroid cancer progression by stabilizing TAZ

  • Cell Death Dis. 2022 Apr 9;13(4):326. doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-04781-1.
Jianing Tang 1 Yongwen Luo 2 Liang Xiao 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Liver Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Clinical Research Center for Breast Cancer Control and Prevention in Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, China. tjn1995@whu.edu.cn.
  • 2 Department of Urology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
  • 3 Department of Liver Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Clinical Research Center for Breast Cancer Control and Prevention in Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, China. xiaoliang_rick@163.com.
Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid Cancer (ATC) is one of the most lethal and aggressive human malignancies, with no effective treatment currently available. The Hippo tumor suppressor pathway is highly conserved in mammals and plays an important role in carcinogenesis. TAZ is one of major key effectors of the Hippo pathway. However, the mechanism supporting abnormal TAZ expression in ATC remains to be characterized. In the present study, we identified USP26, a DUB Enzyme in the ubiquitin-specific proteases family, as a bona fide deubiquitylase of TAZ in ATC. USP26 was shown to interact with, deubiquitylate, and stabilize TAZ in a deubiquitylation activity-dependent manner. USP26 depletion significantly decreased ATC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The effects induced by USP26 depletion could be rescued by further TAZ overexpression. Depletion of USP26 decreased the TAZ protein level and the expression of TAZ/TEAD target genes in ATC, including CTGF, ANKRD1, and CYR61. In general, our findings establish a previously undocumented catalytic role for USP26 as a deubiquitinating Enzyme of TAZ and provides a possible target for the therapy of ATC.

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