UBE2T knockdown inhibits cell growth and metastasis of breast cancer through Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Abstract

Background: Emerging evidences have demonstrated that Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2T (UBE2T) is dysregulated and play critical roles in various cancers. With the development of sequencing technology, studies have discovered that UBE2T is overexpressed in breast cancer tissues. However, the biological roles of UBE2T in breast cancer are still far to clear. In the present study, Methods: We analyzed the UBE2T expression in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to assess the expression of UBE2T in breast cancer cell lines. Cell proliferation, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were determined by using CCK-8, EdU, Transwell and western blot assays.Results: UBE2T was highly expressed in breast cancer cell lines. Functional analysis revealed that silence or elevation of UBE2T inhibited or promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway related markers of MCF-7 cells. Mechanically, blocking of Wnt/β-catenin pathway by XAV939 reversed the promotion effect of UBE2T overexpression on breast cancer cells’ proliferation, migration and invasion.Conclusion: Our findings emphasized that UBE2T may act as an oncogene via activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which may provide a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer.