Ubiquitin ligase DTX3 empowers mutant p53 to promote ovarian cancer development

The deltex family protein DTX3 is believed to possess E3 ubiquitin ligase activity,as it contains a classic RING finger domain.However,its biological role and the underlying mechanism in cancer remain largely elusive.Here,we identified DTX3 as a novel mutant p53-interacting protein in ovarian carcinoma.Mechanistically,DTX3 mediated mutant p53 ubiqui-tination and stabilization by perturbing the MDM2-mutant p53 interaction,consequently leading to activation of diverse.mutant p53 target genes.Importantly,a positive correlation between the expression of DTX3 and mutant p53 target genes was further validated in ovarian carcinomas.Ectopic DTX3 promoted,while depletion of DTX3 suppressed,ovarian cancer cell proliferation and invasion.Remarkably,the pro-tumorigenic effect of DTX3 is dependent on mutant p53,because ablation of mutant p53 significantly impaired DTX3-induced gene expression and ovarian cancer cell growth and propagation.Furthermore,DTX3 elevated the expressi on of muta nt p53 target genes and boosted ovarian tumor growth in vivo.Fin ally,DTX3 was amplified and overexpressed in ovarian carci no mas,which is sign ificantly associated with unfavorable prognosis.Altogether,our findings unveil the oncogenic role of DTX3 in ovarian cancer development by bolstering mutant p53 activity.