UCHL1-mediated deubiquitination of PARK7 suppresses ferroptosis and enhances tumor progression in triple-negative breast cancer.

Authors

Shaojun Chen, Na Liang, Yiming Zhang, Zhuoying Li, Haiqin Hou, Huan Li, Wenxia Zhang

Published in

Molecular and cellular biochemistry. Jul 31, 2026. Epub Jul 31, 2026.

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a poor prognosis due to the lack of targeted treatment. Previous studies have shown that the deubiquitinase UCHL1 is significantly upregulated in TNBC tissues and positively correlated with shorter overall survival in patients, suggesting that UCHL1 may drive TNBC progression. The latest research suggests that ferroptosis deficiency can promote tumor metastasis, but it is still unclear whether UCHL1 affects TNBC by regulating ferroptosis. Based on the potential role of UCHL1 in ferroptosis, we propose the hypothesis that UCHL1 enhances the survival and invasion ability of TNBC cells by inhibiting ferroptosis. We downloaded the single-cell RNA sequencing dataset for breast cancer (GSE176078) from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and integrated it with The Cancer Genome Atlas data to conduct bioinformatics analysis, focusing on identifying key genes related to TNBC. We performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to explore the pathways associated with UCHL1. After that, we validated the expression of UCHL1 in TNBC tissues and cell lines and examined its influence on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through functional experiments. Finally, we explored the downstream targets of UCHL1, utilizing co-immunoprecipitation, western blot, immunofluorescence colocalization, and establishing TNBC xenograft models in nude mice to elucidate its mechanisms in TNBC progression. Public database analysis revealed high levels of UCHL1 in TNBC. Additional research confirmed its overexpression in TNBC tissues and cells, along with significantly increased TNBC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion associated with high UCHL1 expression. GSEA further identified UCHL1 as being predominantly enriched in pathways related to ferroptosis. UCHL1 interacted with Parkinson's disease-related glycosylation enzyme PARK7 and reduced the degradation of PARK7 protein, which was mediated through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Lastly, both in vitro and in vivo studies revealed that the UCHL1-PARK7 axis fostered tumor progression in TNBC by inhibiting ferroptosis. UCHL1 deubiquitinates and stabilizes PARK7, thereby inhibiting ferroptosis and boosting tumor progression in TNBC, indicating the potential of UCHL1 and PARK7 as therapeutic targets for TNBC patients.

PMID:
42536137
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 31 Jul 2026.

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