Abstract
Liver cancer is ranked as the sixth most prevalent from of malignancy globally and stands as the third primary contributor to cancer-related mortality. Metastasis is the main reason for liver cancer treatment failure and patient deaths. Speckle-type POZ protein (SPOP) serves as a crucial substrate junction protein within the cullin-RING E3 ligase complex, acting as a significant tumor suppressor in liver cancer. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanism underlying the role of SPOP in liver cancer metastasis remain elusive. In the current study, we identified cAMP response element binding 5 (CREB5) as a novel SPOP substrate in liver cancer. SPOP facilitates non-degradative K63-polyubiquitination of CREB5 on K432 site, consequently hindering its capacity to activate receptor tyrosine kinase MET. Moreover, liver cancer-associated SPOP mutant S119N disrupts the SPOP-CREB5 interactions and impairs the ubiquitination of CREB5.This disruption ultimately leads to the activation of the MET signaling pathway and enhances metastatic properties of hepatoma cells both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our findings highlight the functional significance of the SPOP-CREB5-MET axis in liver cancer metastasis.