SENP1 regulates cell migration and invasion in neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is an embryonic solid tumor derived from precursor cells of the sympathetic nervous system, and accounts for 11% of childhood cancers and around 15% of cancer deaths in children. SUMOylation and deSUMOylation are dynamic mechanisms regulating a spectrum of protein activities. The SUMO proteases (SENP) remove SUMO conjugate from proteins, and their expression is deregulated in diverse cancers. However, nothing is known about the role of SENPs in NBL. In the present study, we found that SENP1 expression was significantly high in metastatic NB tissues compared with primary NB tissues. Overexpression of SENP1 promoted NB cells migration and invasion. Inhibition of SENP1 could significantly suppress NB cell migration and invasion. Moreover, we found that SENP1 could regulate the expression of CDH1, MMP9, and MMP2. In summary, the data presented here indicate a significant role of SENP1 in the regulation of cell migration and invasion in NB and suppress SENP1 expression as promising candidates for novel treatment strategies of NB.