Deubiquitination of ETV4 by USP7 Promotes NSCLC Tumorigenesis via MAPK7 Activation

Abstract

Transcriptional dysregulation in cancer is accompanied by an anabolic transcriptional response driving proliferation and metabolic adaptation. We previously found that oncogenic ETS variant transcription factor 4 (ETV4) overexpression is associated with DNA replication, glycolytic metabolism, tumor progression, and poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ETV4 is markedly overexpressed in multiple NSCLC datasets, including TCGA-LUAD and TCGA-LUSC. Importantly, ETV4 expression positively correlates with ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) and mitogen-activated protein kinase 7 (MAPK7) levels. While the E3 ligase constitutive photomorphogenesis protein 1 (COP1) is known to regulate ETV4 ubiquitination and degradation, ETV4 deubiquitination remains unclear. Our study reveals that USP7 deubiquitinates ETV4 and protects it from K11- and K48-linked ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation in NSCLC cells. ETV4 transcriptionally controls the expression of the MAPK pathway key gene MAPK7, which encodes extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5), and participates in the regulation of cell proliferation. Genetic knockdown or pharmacological inhibition of USP7 affects the transcriptional activity of ETV4 on its target gene MAPK7/ERK5. USP7 inhibitor P22077 significantly attenuates ETV4-MAPK7-induced cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, elevated ETV4, USP7, and ERK5 protein expressions are associated with poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. These findings identify that USP7 regulates the deubiquitination, stability, and transcriptional activity of ETV4, contributing to the malignant phenotype of ETV4. Inhibition of USP7 might be a promising target in NSCLC with the dysregulation of ETV4 or hyperactivated MAPK signaling.

Keywords: ERK5; ETV4; USP7; deubiquitination; non–small cell lung cancer.