RNF150 suppresses papillary thyroid carcinoma with ASK1 ubiquitination presenting a direct target via inactivating p38 signaling axis

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most prevalent cancer in endocrine system. However, the pathogenic mechanism underlying tumor recurrence remains unclear. RING finger protein (RNF) family plays a crucial role in cancers whereas the role of RNF150 in PTC requires investigation. Our study aimed to explore the function and molecular mechanism of RNF150 in PTC. Here, we extracted data from The Cancer Genome Atlas-THCA (TCGA-THCA) data set to investigate the expression and prognostic value of RNF150 in THCA. We found that RNF150 was lowly expressed in THCA and its high expression indicated favorable prognosis in THCA patients. RNF150 could inhibit the proliferation of PTC cells and suppress p38 phosphorylation both in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, the knockdown of RNF150 significantly promoted the proliferation of PTC cells and the phosphorylation of p38, which could be reversed by p38 inhibitor. Besides, RNF150 could interact with ASK1 and promoted its ubiquitination. The overexpression of ASK1 exerted opposite effects against RNF150 in PTC cells. In PTC specimens, RNF150 and ASK1 shared reversed expression pattern. In conclusion, our study revealed that RNF150 could suppress the proliferation of PTC by inactivating p38 pathway and promoting ASK1 ubiquitination, which provided novel targets for PTC treatment.