WWP1 upregulation predicts poor prognosis and promotes tumor progression by regulating ubiquitination of NDFIP1 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

WW domain-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase1 (WWP1) is reported to be upregulated in many types of human cancers; however, its expression and function in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remain unknown. Here, in this study we investigated the expression pattern, clinical prognosis, tumor biological functions, and molecular mechanisms of WWP1 in ICC. The expression of WWP1 in patient tissues was detected by western blotting, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and immunofluorescence. CCK-8, colony formation, EdU, transwell, and xenograft models were used to explore the role of WWP1 in the proliferation and metastasis of ICC. Co-immunoprecipitation, mass spectrometry, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and immunofluorescence were performed to detect the potential mechanisms. Our study revealed that WWP1 was highly expressed in ICC, and high levels of WWP1 were associated with poor prognosis. Functionally, WWP1 overexpression enhanced the proliferation and metastasis of ICC cells and vice versa. Mechanistically, MYC could be enriched in the promoter region of WWP1 to facilitate its expression. Then, WWP1 targets Nedd4 family interacting protein1 (NDFIP1) and reduces NDFIP1 protein levels via ubiquitination. Downregulation of NDFIP1 in ICC cells rescued the effects of silenced WWP1 expression. WWP1 expression was also negatively correlated with the protein level of NDFIP1 in patient tissues. In conclusion, WWP1 upregulated by MYC promotes the progression of ICC via ubiquitination of NDFIP1, which reveals that WWP1 might be a potential therapeutic target for ICC.