Elsevier

Seminars in Cancer Biology

Volume 67, Part 2, December 2020, Pages 102-116
Seminars in Cancer Biology

Review
The functions and regulation of Smurfs in cancers

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcancer.2019.12.023Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 (Smurf1) and Smurf2 are HECT-type E3 ubiquitin ligases, and both Smurfs were initially identified to regulate Smad protein stability in the TGF-β/BMP signaling pathway. In recent years, Smurfs have exhibited E3 ligase-dependent and -independent activities in various kinds of cells. Smurfs act as either potent tumor promoters or tumor suppressors in different tumors by regulating biological processes, including metastasis, apoptosis, cell cycle, senescence and genomic stability. The regulation of Smurfs activity and expression has therefore emerged as a hot spot in tumor biology research. Further, the Smurf1- or Smurf2-deficient mice provide more in vivo clues for the functional study of Smurfs in tumorigenesis and development. In this review, we summarize these milestone findings and, in turn, reveal new avenues for the prevention and treatment of cancer by regulating Smurfs.

Keywords

Smurf1
Smurf2
Ubiquitination
E3 ligase
Cancer

Cited by (0)