C-terminal domain small phosphatase-like 2 promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition via Snail dephosphorylation and stabilization

Abstract

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular reprogramming process converting epithelial cells into mesenchymal cell morphology. Snail is a critical regulator of EMT by both suppressing epithelial gene expression and promoting mesenchymal gene expression. Expression and activity of Snail are tightly controlled at transcriptional and post-translational levels. It has previously been reported that Snail undergoes phosphorylation and ubiquitin-dependent proteasome degradation. Here, we report nuclear phosphatase SCP4/CTDSPL2 acts as a novel Snail phosphatase. SCP4 physically interacts with and directly dephosphorylates Snail. SCP4-mediated dephosphorylation of Snail suppresses the ubiquitin-dependent proteasome degradation of Snail and consequently enhances TGFβ-induced EMT. The knockdown of SCP4 in MCF10A mammary epithelial cells leads to attenuated cell migration. Collectively, our finding demonstrates that SCP4 plays a critical role in EMT through Snail dephosphorylation and stabilization.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2018
Source ID
10.1098/rsob.170274

Entities

People

  • Fenfang Chen
  • Jinquan Liu
  • Xin-Hua Feng
  • Yulan Zhao

Organizations

  • Baylor College of Medicine
  • Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • United States Department of Defense
  • Zhejiang University

Tags

Readers

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics