USP14 promotes the proliferation of cervical cancer via upregulating β-catenin

In recent years, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) has become a hot spot in medical research in cervical cancer (CC) and has received extensive attention. Among them, ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14) is involved in a wide variety of typical cell signaling pathways and is recognized to be involved in the progression of most known tumors. However, the expression and significance of USP14 in CC have not been directly studied. Through database analysis, we found that USP14 was overexpressed in CC, which influenced the FIGO stage and prognosis of CC patients, and it was positively correlated with the expression level of β-catenin. In this study, USP14 promoted the G1-S phase transition of Hela and Siha cells and inhibited cell apoptosis, thereby promoting the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CC cells. In addition, USP14 also significantly promoted the growth of subcutaneous tumor in nude mice. We also found that overexpression of USP14 significantly upregulated β-catenin expression and increased the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. While knockdown of USP14 resulted in the opposite. These results suggest that USP14 may promote the proliferation of CC by up-regulating the expression of β-catenin, contributing to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of CC and providing a potential therapeutic target.