Ubiquitin-specific protease TRE17/USP6 promotes tumor cell invasion through the regulation of glycoprotein CD147 intracellular trafficking

Enzyme makes cancer cells invasive

27 December 2022

The enhanced expression of an enzyme helps cancer cells to invade neighbouring cells through regulating the entry of a glycoprotein into cells.

One way that tumours grow is by invading neighbouring cells. The proteins expressed on their surfaces can help them can help them achieve this.

One such protein, the protease TRE17, is highly expressed in several cancers. It regulates the entry of plasma membrane proteins into cells, but it wasn’t known how this influences cell invasion.

Now, five researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan have shown that increased expression of TRE17 makes cancer cells more invasive by increasing the expression of a glycoprotein on the cell surface.

Suppressing the glycoprotein using drugs rendered tumour cells less invasive, raising the possibility of developing treatments for counteracting tumour cell invasion based on TRE17.

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References

1. Journal of Biological Chemistry 298 102335 (2022). doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102335