AUTHOR=Hao Xiaomeng , Qiu Yufan , Cao Lixia , Yang Xiaonan , Zhou Dongdong , Liu Jingjing , Shi Zhendong , Zhao Shaorong , Zhang Jin TITLE=Over-Expression of Centromere Protein U Participates in the Malignant Neoplastic Progression of Breast Cancer JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.615427 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.615427 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

The expression of Centromere Protein U (CENP-U) is closely related to tumor malignancy. Till now, the role of CENP-U in the malignant progression of breast cancer remains unclear. In this study, we found that CENP-U protein was highly expressed in the primary invasive breast cancer tissues compared to the paired adjacent histologically normal tissues and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) tissues. After CENP-U was knocked down, the proliferation and colony-forming abilities of breast cancer cells were significantly suppressed, whereas the portion of apoptotic cells was increased. Meanwhile, the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway was significantly inhibited. In vivo studies showed that, the inhibition of CENP-U repressed the tumor growth in orthotopic breast cancer models. Therefore, our study demonstrated that the CENP-U might act as an oncogene and promote breast cancer progression via activation of the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway, which suggests a promising direction for targeting therapy in breast cancer.