Breast cancer has become the leading cause of death in females. After comprehensive treatment, the lives of patients are still threatened by tumor metastasis and recurrence. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement to find an effective treatment target for breast cancer. Tripartite motif‑containing 35 (TRIM35) is a ubiquitin ligase that has an important role in the recurrence and metastasis of malignant tumors. However, the role of TRIM35 in breast cancer has thus far remained elusive. The expression of TRIM35 was examined in a bioinformatics database and the effects of TRIM35 on the malignant biological behavior of breast cancer were analyzed by Cell Counting Kit‑8, cell migration and invasion assays, flow cytometry and nude mouse xenograft experiments. It was determined that TRIM35 was downregulated in breast cancer tumor tissues and cell lines. Patients with low TRIM35 expression had shorter overall survival. Functional assays revealed that overexpression of TRIM35 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted apoptosis of breast cancer cells. Furthermore, overexpression of TRIM35 was able to inhibit the Warburg effect in breast cancer cells. Mechanistic analyses indicated that TRIM35 regulates the transition of tetramers and dimers of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) through ubiquitination and thereby affects the Warburg effect. In conclusion, the present results indicated that TRIM35 regulates the tetramer and dimer transition of PKM2 through ubiquitination and affects the malignant biological behavior of breast cancer by modulating the Warburg effect.
Keywords: PKM2; TRIM35; Warburg effect; breast cancer; tumorigenicity; ubiquitination.