1. Academic Validation
  2. OTUB2 exerts tumor-suppressive roles via STAT1-mediated CALML3 activation and increased phosphatidylserine synthesis

OTUB2 exerts tumor-suppressive roles via STAT1-mediated CALML3 activation and increased phosphatidylserine synthesis

  • Cell Rep. 2022 Oct 25;41(4):111561. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111561.
Wan Chang 1 Qingyu Luo 1 Xiaowei Wu 1 Yabing Nan 1 Pengfei Zhao 1 Lingqiang Zhang 2 Aiping Luo 1 Wenjie Jiao 3 Qiong Zhu 2 Yesheng Fu 2 Zhihua Liu 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, National Center for Protein Sciences (Beijing), Beijing Institute of Lifeomics, Beijing 100850, China.
  • 3 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Shandong 266000, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China. Electronic address: liuzh@cicams.ac.cn.
Abstract

Oral and esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are associated with high mortality, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying these malignancies are largely unclear. We show that DNA hypermethylation of otubain 2 (OTUB2), a previously recognized oncogene, drives tongue and esophageal SCC initiation and drug resistance. Mechanistically, OTUB2 promotes the deubiquitination and phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and subsequently regulates the transcription of calmodulin-like protein 3 (CALML3). Activation of CALML3-mediated mitochondrial calcium signaling promotes oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and the synthesis of phosphatidylserine (PS). In mouse models, orally administered soybean-derived PS inhibits SCC initiation in cells with low OTUB2 expression and increases their sensitivity to chemotherapy. Our study indicates that the OTUB2/STAT1/CALML3/PS axis plays tumor-suppressive roles and shows the potential of PS administration as a strategy for the treatment and prevention of tongue and esophageal SCCs.

Keywords

CALML3; CP: Cancer; OTUB2; OXPHOS; STAT1; calcium signaling; chemoresistance; lipid metabolism; phosphatidylserine; squamous cell carcinoma; tumorigenesis.

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