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Gene information | Literature | Expression | lncRNA | Mutation | Homolog

Basic Information

Gene ID

4734

Name

NEDD4

Synonymous

neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 4, E3 ubiquitin protein ligase;NEDD4;neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 4, E3 ubiquitin protein ligase

Definition

E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase NEDD4|cell proliferation-inducing gene 53 protein|neural precursor cell expressed developmentally down-regulated protein 4|receptor-potentiating factor 1

Position

15q

Gene type

protein-coding

Title

Abstract

NEDD4-1 is a proto-oncogenic ubiquitin ligase for PTEN.

The tumor suppressor PTEN, a critical regulator for multiple cellular processes, is mutated or deleted frequently in various human cancers. Subtle reductions in PTEN expression levels have profound impacts on carcinogenesis. Here we show that PTEN level is regulated by ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation, and purified its ubiquitin ligase as HECT-domain protein NEDD4-1. In cells NEDD4-1 negatively regulates PTEN stability by catalyzing PTEN polyubiquitination. Consistent with the tumor-suppressive role of PTEN, overexpression of NEDD4-1 potentiated cellular transformation. Strikingly, in a mouse cancer model and multiple human cancer samples where the genetic background of PTEN was normal but its protein levels were low, NEDD4-1 was highly expressed, suggesting that aberrant upregulation of NEDD4-1 can posttranslationally suppress PTEN in cancers. Elimination of NEDD4-1 expression inhibited xenotransplanted tumor growth in a PTEN-dependent manner. Therefore, NEDD4-1 is a potential proto-oncogene that negatively regulates PTEN via ubiquitination, a paradigm analogous to that of Mdm2 and p53.

p34 is a novel regulator of the oncogenic behavior of NEDD4-1 and PTEN.

PTEN is one of the most frequently mutated or deleted tumor suppressors in human cancers. NEDD4-1 was recently identified as the E3 ubiquitin ligase for PTEN; however, a number of important questions remain regarding the role of ubiquitination in regulating PTEN function and the mechanisms by which PTEN ubiquitination is regulated. In the present study, we demonstrated that p34, which was identified as a binding partner of NEDD4-1, controls PTEN ubiquitination by regulating NEDD4-1 protein stability. p34 interacts with the WW1 domain of NEDD4-1, an interaction that enhances NEDD4-1 stability. expression of p34 promotes PTEN poly-ubiquitination, leading to PTEN protein degradation, whereas p34 knockdown results in PTEN mono-ubiquitination. Notably, an inverse correlation between PTEN and p34/NEDD4-1 levels was confirmed in tumor samples from colon cancer patients. Thus, p34 acts as a key regulator of the oncogenic behavior of NEDD4-1 and PTEN.