UBE2O promotes the proliferation, EMT and stemness properties of breast cancer cells through the UBE2O/AMPKα2/mTORC1-MYC positive feedback loop

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2O (UBE2O) is a large E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that possesses both E2 and E3 ligase activities. Ectopic UBE2O overexpression is associated with a variety of human diseases, especially cancers. However, the expression profile and functional biology of UBE2O in human breast cancer (BC) remain unclear. In this study, we found that UBE2O was significantly overexpressed in human BC tissues and cells. Patients with high UBE2O expression tended to have a high risk of metastasis and poor prognosis. In vitro assays revealed that UBE2O promoted BC cell proliferation and epithelial–mesenchymal transformation (EMT) and endowed BC cells with cancer stemness properties (CSPs). UBE2O knockdown in MDA-MB-231 cells suppressed tumour growth and lung metastasis in MDA-MB-231 xenograft mouse models. Mechanistically, UBE2O functioned as a ubiquitin enzyme of AMPKα2, promoting its ubiquitination and degradation and thus activating the mTORC1 signal pathway and contributing to BC oncogenesis and metastasis. Furthermore, as a downstream factor of the UBE2O/AMPKα2/mTORC1 axis, the oncoprotein MYC transcriptionally promoted UBE2O and formed a positive feedback loop in human BC. Collectively, our study demonstrated that UBE2O/AMPKα2/mTORC1-MYC forms a positive feedback loop in human BC cells that regulates BC cell proliferation and EMT and endows BC cells with CSPs.