Work

Dual roles of SBSN in renal cancer progression and tumor thrombus: Cell-autonomous NF-κB-CD44 axis and IFI6-driven paracrine angiogenesis

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is highly vascular and prone to venous invasion and tumor thrombus (TT) formation, though its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we found suprabasin ( SBSN ) was upregulated in RCC and enriched in TT, associated with poor prognosis. SBSN promoted RCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via the NF-κB-CD44 axis, and its knockdown inhibited tumor growth and affected epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vivo . Clinically, SBSN expression in RCC tissue positively correlates with microvessel density. Mechanistically, SBSN drove angiogenesis paracrinally by upregulating interferon alpha-inducible protein 6 ( IFI6 ) in endothelial cells, which in turn inhibits endothelial cell apoptosis and promotes tube formation. Collectively, SBSN acts both intrinsically (NF-κB-CD44 axis) to boost tumor aggressiveness and extrinsically (SBSN-IFI6 axis) to promote angiogenesis. This study positions SBSN as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target to disrupt both tumor growth and vascular support in advanced RCC.

Source: iScience