USP26 promotes esophageal squamous cell carcinoma metastasis through stabilizing Snail.

Snail is an important transcription factor of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and related to poor prognosis and distant metastasis of tumor patients. Snail is a liable protein and degraded by ubiquitin-proteasome system. There are various E3 ligases mediating its degradation, but the deubiquitinating enzyme reversed Snail degradation is not fully understood. In this study, we screened a DUB library and found USP26 is a potent deubiquitinase mediating Snail stabilization. We also identified that USP26 is a booster of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell migration and invasion, and it is highly expressed in ESCC samples. Our observation demonstrates that USP26 is a novel deubiquitinating enzyme of Snail and it provides a potential target for the therapy of esophageal cancer metastasis.