HJURP inhibits proliferation of ovarian cancer cells by regulating CENP-A/CENP-N

Objective > High expression of Holliday Junction-Recognizing Protein (HJURP) has been shown to be a marker of poor prognosis in ovarian cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of HJURP in ovarian cancer (OC) progression. Procedures > Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) was used to analyze the gene expression profile. Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression level and correlation of HJURP and centromere protein-A (CENP-A) in OC tissues and cell lines. CCK-8 assay was used to detect cell proliferation. The expression level of apoptosis-related proteins and cell cycle-related proteins were detected by western blotting. Cell cycle and mitochondria! content were determined by flow cytometry. Results > The results showed that HJURP was up-regulated in OC tissues and cell lines, while the cell proliferation was inhibited after transfecting by si-HJURP. Knockdown of HJURP promoted cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, low-expression of HJURP could down-regulate cell replication cycle-related proteins (Cyclin-dependent kinase 2, cyclinD1 and Cyclin-dependent kinase 4) and make cell replication stay in the S phase. Moreover, further studies showed that HJURP was positively correlated with CENP-A in OC tissues. Finally, the rescue experiment further verified that HJURP targeted regulation of CENP-A in OC. Conclusions > The study indicated that HJURP plays a significant role in OC and could target CENP-A to regulate OC cell growth. These findings provide a clue to the diagnosis and treatment of OC.

Automated summary

This study reveals that high expression of HJURP in ovarian cancer is associated with inhibited cell proliferation and altered cell cycle and mitochondrial content. HJURP is positively correlated with CENP-A and plays a significant role in regulating the growth of ovarian cancer cells through targeting CENP-A.