结直肠癌中去泛素化酶的作用机制

The Mechanisms of Deubiquitinases in Colorectal Cancer

结直肠癌是目前发病率和死亡率排名较高的肿瘤之一,其预防和治疗面临严峻挑战,近年来越来越多的研究表明,去泛素化酶与结直肠癌的发生发展密切相关。去泛素化酶通过精准去除蛋白质上的泛素分子,调控蛋白质稳定性、细胞信号传导及基因表达,进而影响肿瘤细胞增殖、存活及迁移等关键生理过程。去泛素化酶可以通过影响细胞周期蛋白质的稳定性来促进细胞周期,加速细胞增殖。在Wnt/β-catenin信号通路中,去泛素化酶通过增加β-联蛋白(β-catenin)的核定位引起通路异常激活,促进结直肠癌的发生。去泛素化酶可以参与调节免疫检查点的稳定性,影响肿瘤微环境中的免疫细胞功能,促进免疫逃逸。去泛素化酶可以调控转录因子泛素化状态,影响靶基因表达,促进上皮-间质转化过程,增强结直肠癌的侵袭性和转移潜能。去泛素化酶还能通过调控凋亡抑制因子稳定性、DNA修复酶活性或药物外排蛋白质表达,介导肿瘤细胞对化疗药物的耐药性。鉴于去泛素化酶在结直肠癌进展中的关键作用,开发靶向去泛素化酶的小分子抑制剂逐渐成为有吸引力和挑战性的热门领域,目前,已发现多种小分子抑制剂在体外实验和动物模型中展示了抑制结直肠癌细胞生长和诱导细胞凋亡的能力。本文就去泛素化酶在结直肠癌中的研究进展,以及小分子抑制剂在结直肠癌中的应用展开讨论,为结直肠癌的治疗提供思路。

Colorectal cancer ranks among the malignancies with high incidence and mortality rates,posing significant challenges to its prevention and treatment.In recent years,accumulating evidence has highlighted the critical involvement of deubiquitinases in the development and progression of colorectal cancer.Deubiquitinases meticulously remove ubiquitin moieties from proteins,thereby regulating protein stability,cellular signaling cascades,and gene expression,which in turn impacts key processes in tumor cells such as proliferation,survival,and metastasis.Deubiquitinases can influence the stability of cell cycle proteins,promoting cell cycle progression and accelerating cellular proliferation.Within the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway,deubiquitinases contribute to pathway hyperactivation by enhancing nuclear localization of β-catenin,a pivotal event in colorectal cancer initiation.Deubiquitinases also play a role in modulating the stability of immune checkpoint regulators,affecting the function of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment and facilitating immune evasion.Through regulation of transcription factor ubiquitination status,deubiquitinases impact target gene expression,promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition,thereby augmenting colorectal cancer’s invasive and metastatic potential.Moreover,deubiquitinases mediate chemoresistance in tumor cells by controlling the stability of apoptosis inhibitors,DNA repair enzymes,or drug efflux pumps.Given the critical role of deubiquitinases in colorectal cancer progression,the development of small molecule inhibitors targeting specific deubiquitinases has emerged as an attractive yet challenging field of research.Several inhibitors have demonstrated the capability to inhibit colorectal cancer cell growth and induce apoptosis in vitro and animal models.This review delves into the advancements in understanding the roles of deubiquitinases in colorectal cancer and discusses the application of small molecule inhibitors in colorectal cancer,providing insights for therapeutic strategies against this disease.