Inhibition of OTUB2 suppresses colorectal cancer cell growth by regulating β-Catenin signaling

In the effort to identify deubiquitinating enzymes required for the growth of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, we found that OTUB2 knockdown markedly inhibited the viability of these cancer cells in culture and in xenografted mice. It was also found that the level of OTUB2 was elevated in primary CRCs, and its high expression was a poor prognostic indicator for the patients. Interestingly, immunoprecipitation and LC-MS/MS analyses suggested that 8-Catenin was an OTUB2-interacting protein, and there was a positive correlation between OTUB2 and 8-Catenin expression in both CRC tissues and cell lines. We then performed reciprocal co-immunoprecipitations and demonstrated that OTUB2 and 8-Catenin bound to each other. Enforced expression of OTUB2 decreased ubiquitination of 8-Catenin and increased the half-life and intracellular level of 8-Catenin, whereas the catalytic inactive OTUB2 did not. OTUB2 also enhanced 8-Catenin-mediated transactivation as measured by TCF-luciferase and expression of endogenous CCND1 and MYC in CRC cells. These results indicated that OTUB2 was a potential target for therapeutic intervention for CRC.