UBN2 promotes tumor progression via the Ras/MAPK pathway and predicts poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Ubinuclein-2 (UBN2) is a nuclear protein that interacts with many transcription factors. The molecular role and mechanism of UBN2 in the development and progression of cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC), is not well understood. The current study explored the role of UBN2 in the development and progression CRC. METHODS: Oncomine network and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were downloaded and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to compare the UBN2′s expression between normal and tumor tissues, as well as the potential correlation of UBN2 expression with signaling pathways. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to determine the expression of UBN2 in CRC tissues or cell lines. In vitro proliferation and invasion assays, and orthotopic mouse metastatic model were used to analyze the effect of UBN2 on the development and progression of CRC. RESULTS: The analysis of UBN2 expression using Oncomine network showed that UBN2 was upregulated in CRC tissues compared to matched adjacent normal intestinal epithelial tissues. IHC, qRT-PCR and Western blotting confirmed that UBN2 expression is higher in CRC tissues compared with matched adjacent normal intestinal epithelial tissues. In addition, analyses of TCGA data revealed that high UBN2 expression was associated with advanced stages of lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and short survival time in CRC patients. IHC showed that high UBN2 expression is correlated with advanced stages of CRC. Moreover, UBN2 is highly expressed in the liver metastatic lesions. Furthermore, knockdown of UBN2 inhibited the growth, invasiveness and metastasis of CRC cells via regulation of the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrates that UBN2 promotes tumor progression in CRC. UBN2 may be used as a promising biomarker for predicting the prognosis of CRC patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-019-0848-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.