Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is an aggressive cancer with limited improvement in patient outcomes despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The LIM-only protein LMO4 functions as a transcriptional co-regulator and is known to be increased in several epithelial cancers, but its contribution to OSCC has not been well defined. In this study, we found that LMO4 expression was markedly higher in OSCC tissues and was associated with poorer overall survival. Cellular experiments showed that LMO4 enhanced OSCC cell proliferation, migration, and resistance to ferroptosis by promoting the ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent degradation of the tumor suppressor RAB17. Restoration of RAB17 expression reduced these malignant behaviors. In a nude mouse xenograft model, tumors with high LMO4 grew faster and displayed lower RAB17 protein levels. Taken together, our results indicate that LMO4 contributes to OSCC progression through post-translational regulation of RAB17 and ferroptosis control, suggesting that this pathway could serve as a new therapeutic target.
Source: Cell Death and Disease
Authors: JiaJia Fan, Hongyan Zhang, Lin Liu, Chunyu Wang, Shiheng Jia, Qian Wang, Zengyan Xu, Fengfei Zhao, Shuzhen Xiang, Wei Ma, Zhuoran Huang, Minda Liu, Yanshu Li, Wei Dai
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,990
OpenAlex ID: W4416088343