E3 ubiquitin ligase SMURF2 prevents colorectal cancer by reducing the stability of the YY1 protein and inhibiting the SENP1/c-myc axis

Genetic association between E3 ubiquitin ligase SMURF2 and colorectal cancer (CRC) has been identified, while the mechanism remains undefined. Tumor-promoting gene YY1 represents a downstream factor of SMURF2. The study was designed to evaluate the effect of SMURF2 on the malignant phenotypes of CRC cells and the underlying mechanism. The expression pattern of SMURF2 and YY1 in CRC clinical tissues and cells was characterized by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were conducted to assess the effect of SMURF2 and YY1 on the behaviors of CRC cells. After bioinformatics analysis, the relationship between YY1 and SENP1 as well as between SENP1 and c-myc was determined by luciferase reporter and ChIP assays. Rescue experiments were performed to show their involvement during CRC progression. Finally, in vivo models of tumor growth were established for validation. SMURF2 was lowly expressed and YY1 was highly expressed in CRC tissues and cells. YY1 overexpression resulted in promotion of CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, which could be reversed by SMURF2. Furthermore, SMURF2 could induce ubiquitination-mediated degradation of YY1, which bound to the SENP1 promoter and upregulated SENP1 expression, leading to enhancement of c-myc expression. The in vivo data revealed the suppressive role of SMURF2 gain-of-function in tumor growth through downregulation of YY1, SENP1, or c-myc. Altogether, our data demonstrate the antitumor activity of SMURF2 in CRC and the anti-tumor mechanism associated with degradation of YY1 and downregulation of SENP1/c-myc.