1. Academic Validation
  2. Targeting USP7-Mediated Deubiquitination of MDM2/MDMX-p53 Pathway for Cancer Therapy: Are We There Yet?

Targeting USP7-Mediated Deubiquitination of MDM2/MDMX-p53 Pathway for Cancer Therapy: Are We There Yet?

  • Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Apr 2:8:233. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00233.
Si-Min Qi 1 Gang Cheng 1 Xiang-Dong Cheng 2 Zhiyuan Xu 2 Beihua Xu 1 Wei-Dong Zhang 3 4 Jiang-Jiang Qin 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 2 Institute of Cancer and Basic Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
  • 3 School of Pharmacy, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
  • 4 Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Abstract

The p53 tumor suppressor protein and its major negative regulators MDM2 and MDMX oncoproteins form the MDM2/MDMX-p53 circuitry, which plays critical roles in regulating Cancer cell growth, proliferation, cell cycle progression, Apoptosis, senescence, angiogenesis, and immune response. Recent studies have shown that the stabilities of p53, MDM2, and MDMX are tightly controlled by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Ubiquitin specific Protease 7 (USP7), one of the most studied deubiquitinating Enzymes plays a crucial role in protecting MDM2 and MDMX from ubiquitination-mediated proteasomal degradation. USP7 is overexpressed in human cancers and contributes to Cancer initiation and progression. USP7 inhibition promotes the degradation of MDM2 and MDMX, activates the p53 signaling, and causes cell cycle arrest and Apoptosis, making USP7 a potential target for Cancer therapy. Several small-molecule inhibitors of USP7 have been developed and shown promising efficacy in preclinical settings. In the present review, we focus on recent advances in the understanding of the USP7-MDM2/MDMX-p53 network in human cancers as well as the discovery and development of USP7 inhibitors for Cancer therapy.

Keywords

MDM2; MDMX; USP7; cancer; deubiquitination; p53; small-molecule inhibitor.

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