Wang Xue, Yan Guangqi, Li Hao, Wang Chunyu, Kang Ye, Wang Shengli, Liu Wei, Lin Lin, Zou Renlong, Zeng Kai, Wang Manlin, Luan Ruina, Zhou Baosheng, Bai Yu, Yang Dongjun, Ning Bolin, Sun Ge, Zhao Yue
Department of Cell Biology, Key laboratory of Cell Biology, Ministry of Public Health, and Key laboratory of Medical Cell Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, 110122, China.
Department of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, 110002, China.
Commun Biol. 2025 May 30;8(1):829. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08215-4.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progresses from epithelial cell proliferation to malignancy. Given the higher proportion of male patients compared to female patients, the androgen signaling pathway is believed to play a significant role in promoting epithelial cell proliferation. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we identified RBAP48 as a novel androgen receptor (AR) co-activator in OSCC cells. Our results show that RBAP48 was highly expressed in OSCC tumor tissues from patients with a poor prognosis. Further, RBAP48 knockdown decreased genome-wide oncogene transcription. RBAP48 and AR interacted to activate CCND1 and RAB31 transcription, and upregulated RELA and CCNE1 mRNA expression through an AR-independent pathway. Additionally, RBAP48 promoted OSCC cell proliferation and was involved in the cellular response to drugs and external compounds in vitro, ultimately driving cancer progression. Our results indicate that RBAP48 is a novel oncogene and a promising target for predicting and treating OSCC progression.
口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）从上皮细胞增殖发展为恶性肿瘤。鉴于男性患者比例高于女性患者，雄激素信号通路被认为在促进上皮细胞增殖中起重要作用。然而，其潜在的分子机制仍不清楚。在此，我们鉴定出RBAP48是OSCC细胞中一种新的雄激素受体（AR）共激活因子。我们的结果表明，RBAP48在预后不良患者的OSCC肿瘤组织中高表达。此外，RBAP48敲低可降低全基因组癌基因转录。RBAP48与AR相互作用以激活CCND1和RAB31转录，并通过AR非依赖途径上调RELA和CCNE1 mRNA表达。此外，RBAP48促进OSCC细胞增殖，并参与体外细胞对药物和外部化合物的反应，最终推动癌症进展。我们的结果表明，RBAP48是一种新的癌基因，是预测和治疗OSCC进展的有希望的靶点。
