Inhibition of USP1 enhances anticancer drugs-induced cancer cell death through downregulation of survivin and miR-216a-5p-mediated upregulation of DR5

Ubiquitin-specific protease 1 (USP1) is a deubiquitinase involved in DNA damage repair by modulating the ubiquitination of major regulators, such as PCNA and FANCD2. Because USP1 is highly expressed in many cancers, dysregulation of USP1 contributes to cancer therapy. However, the role of USP1 and the mechanisms underlying chemotherapy remain unclear. In this study, we found high USP1 expression in tumor tissues and that it correlated with poor prognosis in RCC. Mechanistically, USP1 enhanced survivin stabilization by removing ubiquitin. Pharmacological inhibitors (ML23 and pimozide) and siRNA targeting USP1 induced downregulation of survivin expression. In addition, ML323 upregulated DR5 expression by decreasing miR-216a-5p expression at the post-transcriptional level, and miR-216a-5p mimics suppressed the upregulation of DR5 by ML323. Inhibition of USP1 sensitized cancer cells. Overexpression of survivin or knockdown of DR5 markedly prevented the co-treatment with ML323 and TRAIL-induced apoptosis. These results of in vitro were proved in a mouse xenograft model, in which combined treatment significantly reduced tumor size and induced survivin downregulation and DR5 upregulation. Furthermore, USP1 and survivin protein expression showed a positive correlation, whereas miR-216a-5p and DR5 were inversely correlated in RCC tumor tissues. Taken together, our results suggest two target substrates of USP1 and demonstrate the involvement of survivin and DR5 in USP1-targeted chemotherapy.