BRCA1-associated
protein 1 (BAP1) is a
deubiquitinating enzyme that has long been considered to be a
tumor suppressor in various
tumors, including
renal cell carcinoma,
uveal melanoma,
mesothelioma, and cutaneous
melanoma. However, the involvement of BAP1 in the progression of
prostate cancer has not been studied until recently. Herein, we investigated the
tumor promoting function of BAP1 in the context of
prostate cancer. Analysis of The
Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data set showed that
prostate cancer patients express high levels of BAP1
mRNA. High BAP1 expression is inversely correlated with disease-free survival in patients with
prostate cancer. Among the prostate cell lines tested, BAP1 expression was high in tumorigenic and metastatic cell lines, but was low in normal prostate cell line. Knockdown of BAP1 in PC3 or DU145 cells induced mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). Further, BAP1-knockdown resulted in decreased migration and invasion of PC3 and DU145 cells. Conversely, overexpression of BAP1 in RWPE1, a normal prostate cell line, induced the migratory and invasive properties. Collectively, our findings identified that BAP1 has a
tumor promoting function in
prostate cancer cells, and suggest that BAP1 can serve as a potential therapeutic target for
prostate cancer.