OncoTargets and Therapy (Feb 2020)
Downregulation of USP34 Inhibits the Growth and Migration of Pancreatic Cancer Cells via Inhibiting the PRR11
Abstract
Changjie Lin,* Jing Xia,* Zhiwei Gu, Yunpeng Meng, Dekang Gao, Shaohua Wei Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shaohua WeiDepartment of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 1055, Sanxiang Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected]: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly lethal malignancy worldwide. Our previous study indicated that overexpression of USP34 could promote tumor growth in PC cells. Therefore, this study aimed to further investigate the role of USP34 during the tumorigenesis of PC.Methods: The level of USP34 in PANC-1 and MiaPaCa-2 cells transfected with USP34-shRNAs was detected by RT-qPCR. Moreover, transwell migration and Annexin V/PI analysis were conducted to detect cell migration and apoptosis, respectively.Results: In this study, downregulation of USP34 markedly inhibited proliferation and migration, and induced apoptosis in PANC-1 cells. Moreover, silencing of USP34 obviously downregulated the levels of PRR11 and p-p38 in PANC-1 cells. An in vivo study in nude mice bearing PANC-1 cell xenografts confirmed these results.Conclusion: Downregulation of USP34 could inhibit proliferation and migration in PANC-1 cells via inhibiting PRR11, and inactivating p38 MAPK signaling. Therefore, USP34 might be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of PC.Keywords: pancreatic cancer, ubiquitin-specific protease USP34, proline-rich 11, apoptosis
