Tumor suppressor mediated ubiquitylation of hnRNPK is a barrier to oncogenic translation
Open accessAbstract
Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNPK) is a multifunctional RNA binding protein (RBP) localized in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Abnormal cytoplasmic enrichment observed in solid tumors often correlates with poor clinical outcome. The mechanism of cytoplasmic redistribution and ensuing functional role of cytoplasmic hnRNPK remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the SCF Fbxo4 E3 ubiquitin ligase restricts the pro-oncogenic activity of hnRNPK via K63 linked polyubiquitylation, thus limiting its ability to bind target mRNA. We identify SCF Fbxo4-hnRNPK responsive mRNAs whose products regulate cellular processes including proliferation, migration, and invasion. Loss of SCF Fbxo4 leads to enhanced cell invasion, migration, and tumor metastasis. C-Myc was identified as one target of SCF Fbxo4-hnRNPK. Fbxo4 loss triggers hnRNPK-dependent increase in c-Myc translation, thereby contributing to tumorigenesis. Increased c-Myc positions SCF Fbxo4-hnRNPK dysregulated cancers for potential therapeutic interventions that target c-Myc-dependence. This work demonstrates an essential role for limiting cytoplasmic hnRNPK function in order to maintain translational and cellular homeostasis.
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HNRNPK inhibits GBM cells by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells.
“HNRNPK plays an important role in inhibiting GBM cells by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells (31).”
From Functional interaction between miR-505-3p and miR-21 contributes to GBM suppression (2026) · cites this paper as [31]
The Results section (“SCFFbxo4-hnRNPK-c-Myc regulates cell proliferation”; page not provided) reports that hnRNPK expression promoted proliferation in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, while hnRNPK knockdown prevented it—the opposite of the attributed inhibitory effect. The cited passages do not report an experiment in GBM cells. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Functional interaction between miR-505-3p and miR-21 contributes to GBM suppression
Banadkooki, M. Z., Soltani, B. M., & Mowla, S. J. (2026) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-026-59926-5
“HNRNPK plays an important role in inhibiting GBM cells by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells 31 .”
- Authors
- Mucha, B., Qie, S., Bajpai, S., Tarallo, V., Diehl, J. N., Tedeschi, F., Zhou, G., Gao, Z., Flashner, S., Klein-Szanto, A. J., Hibshoosh, H., Masataka, S., Chajewski, O. S., Majsterek, I., Pytel, D., Hatzoglou, M., Der, C. J., Nakagawa, H., Bass, A. J., Wong, K.-K., Fuchs, S. Y., Rustgi, A. K., Jankowsky, E., & Diehl, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (US)
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
- Medical University of South Carolina (US)
- Medical University of Lodz (PL)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- NYU Langone’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- ORCID
- Mucha, Bartosz
- Qie, Shuo
- Tarallo, Vincenzo
- Tedeschi, Frank
- Zhou, Gao
- Gao, Zhaofeng
- Flashner, Samuel
- Klein-Szanto, Andres J.
- Hibshoosh, Hanina
- Majsterek, Ireneusz
- Pytel, Dariusz
- Hatzoglou, Maria
- Der, Channing J.
- Nakagawa, Hiroshi
- Bass, Adam J.
- Wong, Kwok-Kin
- Fuchs, Serge Y.
- Rustgi, Anil K.
- Jankowsky, Eckhard
- Diehl, J. Alan
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2022-11-03
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 6614-6614
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9633729
- OpenAlex
- W4308045418
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 1.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (R01DK53307, R01DK060596)
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (CA098101)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ubiquitin and proteasome pathways
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer-related Molecular Pathways
- Keywords
- hnRNP K, RNA-binding proteins, oncogenic translation, tumor suppressor, metastasis, cell migration and invasion, tumor cell proliferation
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Oncogenes, RNA, Messenger, RNA-Binding Proteins, Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein K, Ubiquitination, Carcinogenesis
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