TY - JOUR A1 - Prieto García, Cristian A1 - Hartmann, Oliver A1 - Reissland, Michaela A1 - Braun, Fabian A1 - Bozkurt, Süleyman A1 - Pahor, Nikolett A1 - Fuß, Carmina Teresa A1 - Schirbel, Andreas A1 - Schülein, Christina A1 - Buchberger, Alexander A1 - Calzado Canale, Marco A. A1 - Rosenfeldt, Mathias Tillmann A1 - Đikić, Ivan A1 - Münch, Christian A1 - Diefenbacher, Markus Elmar T1 - USP28 enables oncogenic transformation of respiratory cells, and its inhibition potentiates molecular therapy targeting mutant EGFR, BRAF and PI3K T2 - Molecular Oncology N2 - Oncogenic transformation of lung epithelial cells is a multistep process, frequently starting with the inactivation of tumour suppressors and subsequent development of activating mutations in proto-oncogenes, such as members of the PI3K or MAPK families. Cells undergoing transformation have to adjust to changes, including altered metabolic requirements. This is achieved, in part, by modulating the protein abundance of transcription factors. Here, we report that the ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 28 (USP28) enables oncogenic reprogramming by regulating the protein abundance of proto-oncogenes such as c-JUN, c-MYC, NOTCH and ∆NP63 at early stages of malignant transformation. USP28 levels are increased in cancer compared with in normal cells due to a feed-forward loop, driven by increased amounts of oncogenic transcription factors such as c-MYC and c-JUN. Irrespective of oncogenic driver, interference with USP28 abundance or activity suppresses growth and survival of transformed lung cells. Furthermore, inhibition of USP28 via a small-molecule inhibitor resets the proteome of transformed cells towards a ‘premalignant’ state, and its inhibition synergizes with clinically established compounds used to target EGFRL858R-, BRAFV600E- or PI3KH1047R-driven tumour cells. Targeting USP28 protein abundance at an early stage via inhibition of its activity is therefore a feasible strategy for the treatment of early-stage lung tumours, and the observed synergism with current standard-of-care inhibitors holds the potential for improved targeting of established tumours. KW - buparlisib KW - c-MYC KW - gefitinib KW - lung cancer KW - USP28 KW - vemurafenib Y1 - 2022 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/85574 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-855741 SN - 1878-0261 N1 - Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. N1 - Funding: Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Klinische Forschung ; B335, Z2/CS-1 N1 - Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; GRK2243 N1 - Funding: German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development ; 1431 N1 - Funding: Deutsche Krebshilfe ; 70112491 N1 - Funding: Deutsche Krebshilfe ; 70114554 VL - 16 IS - 17 SP - 3082 EP - 3106 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CY - Hoboken, NJ ER -