ISSN: 1837-9664Journal of Cancer
Global reach, higher impact
J Cancer 2019; 10(10):2176-2184. doi:10.7150/jca.32731 This issue Cite
Research Paper
UBE2C overexpression in melanoma and its essential role in G2/M transition
1. Department of Gastrointestinal Cancer Biology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin 300060, P.R. China
2. Department of Bone & Soft Tissue Tumor, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin 300060, P.R. China
*The authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
Ubiquitin‑conjugating enzyme E2C (UBE2C) is a key regulator of cell cycle progression, and its aberrant expression has been implicated in various malignancies. However, its clinical and biological roles in malignant melanoma is still unclear. In this study, we found a significant high expression level of UBE2C in melanoma by an in silico analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, which was further validated using fresh melanoma samples. The KM plotter showed that UBE2C level was statistically related to the overall survival (OS) of melanoma patients (p<0.01). RNA interference of UBE2C inhibited the growth of melanoma cells via deactivating ERK/Akt signaling pathways, and blocked the G2/M transition through downregulation of both the level and the activity of mitosis promoting factor (MPF), triggering the apoptosis of melanoma cells. Further, silencing of UBE2C significantly inhibited the xenografted tumor growth on nude mice, indicating an important role of UBE2C in melanoma growth in vivo. Together, our results show that UBE2C may serve as a novel prognostic biomarker as well as a potential therapeutic target for melanoma.
Keywords: UBE2C, melanoma, G2/M arrest, cell cycle, apoptosis
Citation styles
