The ubiquitination ligase SMURF2 reduces aerobic glycolysis and colorectal cancer cell proliferation by promoting ChREBP ubiquitination and degradation

The glucose-responsive transcription factor carbohydrate response element–binding protein (ChREBP) critically promotes aerobic glycolysis and cell proliferation in colorectal cancer cells. It has been reported that ubiquitination may be important in the regulation of ChREBP protein levels and activities. However, the ChREBP-specific E3 ligase and molecular mechanism of ChREBP ubiquitination remains unclear. Using database exploration and expression analysis, we found here that levels of the E3 ligase SMURF2 (Smad-ubiquitination regulatory factor 2) negatively correlate with those of ChREBP in cancer tissues and cell lines. We observed that SMURF2 interacts with ChREBP and promotes ChREBP ubiquitination and degradation via the proteasome pathway. Interestingly, ectopic SMURF2 expression not only decreased ChREBP levels but also reduced aerobic glycolysis, increased oxygen consumption, and decreased cell proliferation in colorectal cancer cells. Moreover, SMURF2 knockdown increased aerobic glycolysis, decreased oxygen consumption, and enhanced cell proliferation in these cells, mostly because of increased ChREBP accumulation. Furthermore, we identified Ser/Thr kinase AKT as an upstream suppressor of SMURF2 that protects ChREBP from ubiquitin-mediated degradation. Taken together, our results indicate that SMURF2 reduces aerobic glycolysis and cell proliferation by promoting ChREBP ubiquitination and degradation via the proteasome pathway in colorectal cancer cells. We conclude that the SMURF2–ChREBP interaction might represent a potential target for managing colorectal cancer.