SZRD1 is a Novel Protein that Functions as a Potential Tumor Suppressor in Cervical Cancer

SZRD1 is a novel gene screened out by high-throughput platform, and so far there exists no systematic function reports. The purpose of our study is to discover the function and mechanism of this novel human gene. Bioinformatics analysis indicates that SZRD1 is a highly conserved intracellular protein. After overexpression of SZRD1, we found that SZRD1 could arrest the cell cycle in G2 phase and play a role in inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. In contrast, after knockdown of endogenous SZRD1, we concluded that it could promote cell proliferation. The mechanism investigations showed that overexpression of SZRD1 could downregulate the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, AKT, STAT3 and downstream signaling molecules, and then arrest the cells in G2 phase by upregulating P21. Tissue microarray analysis showed that the expression of SZRD1 was downregulated in cervical squamous cell carcinomas compared with normal squamous epithelium, and the ratio of downregulation correlated with the stage of the cancer. Overall, we clarified the function of this novel protein SZRD1, which indicated it may be a potential novel tumor suppressor in cervical cancer.