The expression pattern and biological role of ubiquitin-binding enzyme UBE2T in colorectal cancer

Objective To investigate the expression pattern and biological role of ubiquitin-binding enzyme UBE2T in colorectal cancer. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the protein expression of UBE2T in 78 pair specimens of colorectal cancer and corresponding normal tissues. After UBE2T-siRNA and control NC-siRNA were transfected into colorectal cancer cell SW480 by lipofectamine 2000, proliferation was evaluated by cell counting kit (CCK-8) and plate clone assay. Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. The protein expression of UBE2T, cyclin D1 and cyclin E were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with normal colorectal tissue, the expression of UBE2T in colorectal cancer was significantly increased (P<0.001). The abnormally high expression of UBE2T in cancerous tissues was associated with poor pathological features: tumor size (P=0.014), histological grade (P=0.005), depth of invasion (P=0.033) and TNM stage (P=0.014). Both CCK-8 proliferation assay and plate clone formation assay suggested that silencing UBE2T expression could significantly inhibit the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. Silencing UBE2T inhibits the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin E, and promotes G₁/S cell cycle arrest in colorectal cancer cells. Conclusion UBE2T is highly expressed in colorectal cancer tissues and is associated with poor pathological parameters. Silencing UBE2T inhibits the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells by promoting G₁/S cell cycle arrest.