Knockdown of PSMC3IP suppresses the proliferation and xenografted tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma cell

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer‐related death worldwide. Proteasome 26S subunit ATPase 3 interacting protein (PSMC3IP) is an oncogene in breast cancer, while its role in HCC remains unclear. Here, we found that PSMC3IP was critical for the cell proliferation and tumorigenic capacity of HCC cells. Upregulation of PSMC3IP was observed in HCC specimens, and high PSMC3IP expression predicted poor overall survival of HCC patients. In vitro, knockdown of PSMC3IP blunted the proliferation and colony formation of BEL‐7404 and SMMC‐7721 cells. Likewise, PSMC3IP silencing suppressed the xenografted tumor development of BEL‐7404 cells. Mechanistically, apoptosis was enhanced after PSMC3IP knockdown in both BEL‐7404 and SMMC‐7721 cells. At the molecular level, TP53 and GNG4 were upregulated and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (EIF4E) and insulin like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) were downregulated in shPSMC3IP compared with shCtrl BEL‐7404 cells. Therefore, targeting PSMC3IP maybe a promising strategy for HCC.