title: SENP2 regulates hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth by modulating the stability of β-catenin.
abstract: SUMOylation has emerged as an important post-translational modification that modulates the localization, stability and activity of a broad spectrum of proteins. A dynamic process, it can be reversed by a family of SUMO- specific proteases (SENPs). However, the biological roles of SENPs in mammalian development and pathogenesis remain largely elusive. Here, we demonstrated that SENP2 plays a critical role in the control of hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth. SENP2 was found to be down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and over-expression suppressed the growth and colony formation of HCC cells. In contrast, silencing of SENP2 by siRNAs promoted cancer cell growth. We further found that stability of β-catenin was markedly decreased when SENP2 was over-expressed. Interestingly, the decrease was dependent on the de-SUMOylation activity of SENP2, because over-expression of a SENP2 catalytic mutant form had no obviously effects on β-catenin. Our results suggest that SENP2 might play a role in hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth control by modulating the stability of β-catenin.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Renji hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Huo-Jian
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Hong-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Fu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D058207:Sumoylation; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D051176:beta Catenin; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C501833:SENP2 protein, human