USP7 Inhibitors in Cancer Immunotherapy: Current Status and Perspective.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) regulates the stability of a plethora of intracellular proteins involved in the suppression of anti-tumor immune responses and its overexpression is associated with poor survival in many cancers. USP7 impairs the balance of the p53/MDM2 axis resulting in the proteasomal degradation of the p53 tumor suppressor, a process that can be reversed by small-molecule inhibitors of USP7. USP7 was shown to regulate the anti-tumor immune responses in several cases.