HR23A-knockdown lung cancer cells exhibit epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and gain stemness properties through increased Twist1 stability.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition is a major cause of cancer metastasis, and deregulation of the transcription factor, Twist1, is a critical molecular event in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The importance of Twist1 protein turnover in this process has not yet been defined. Here, we show that HR23A directly targets the Twist1 protein without changing its gene transcription.