Deubiquitination and stabilization of estrogen receptor α by ubiquitin-specific protease 7 promotes breast tumorigenesis.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women around the world. Estrogen receptor α (ERα) is expressed in approximately 70% of breast tumors, and considered as one of most effective targets in breast cancer therapy. It has been reported that the degradation of ERα protein is mediated by ubiquitin-proteasome system. However, little is known about the regulation of ERα deubiquitination, a critical constituent of its degradation control. The current study first reports that there is a positive correlation between ERα and ubiquitin specific protease 7 (USP7) protein levels in human breast tumor tissues. Subsequent studies showed that USP7 physically interacted with the ERα, thereby mediating the deubiquitination and stabilization of ERα. In addition, USP7 inhibition or silencing led to growth inhibition and apoptosis of ERα-positive breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, overexpression of ERα rescued the USP7 silencing-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, supporting that ERα status is essential to the function of USP7 in breast carcinogenesis. Overall, this study suggests that targeting USP7-ERα complex could be a potential strategy to treat ERα-positive breast cancer.