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Updated: Feb 9, 2026

Reconstitution Of β-catenin Degradation In Xenopus Egg Extract
Published on: June 17, 2014
USP20 positively regulates tumorigenesis and chemoresistance through β-catenin stabilization
Chenming Wu1,2, Kuntian Luo1,2,3, Fei Zhao3
1Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200120, China.
Abstract:
β-catenin is a major transcriptional activator of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. It is important for a series of biological processes including tissue homeostasis, and embryonic development and is involved in various human diseases. Elevated oncogenic activity of β-catenin is frequently observed in cancers, which contributes to survival, metastasis and chemo-resistance of cancer cells. However, the mechanism of β-catenin overexpression in cancers is not well defined. Here we demonstrate that the deubiquitination enzyme USP20 is a new regulator of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Mechanistically, USP20 regulates the deubiquitination of β-catenin to control its stability, thereby inducing proliferation, invasion and migration of cancer cells. High expression of USP20 correlates with increased β-catenin protein level in multiple cancer cell lines and patient samples. Moreover, knockdown of USP20 increases β-catenin polyubiquitination, which enhances β-catenin turnover and cell sensitivity to chemotherapy. Collectively, our results establish the USP20-β-catenin axis as a critical regulatory mechanism of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway with an important role in tumorigenesis and chemo response in human cancers.
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