USP21 functions as an oncogenic regulator of the Mdm2-p53 axis in colorectal cancer
Zhongyu Wang, Bo Yao, Weiran He, Xiaorui Guo, Ning Yu, Suyun Tang, Linzhu Luo, Fang Wang, Kailiang Zhao, Yide Mei · 2026
Read USP21 functions as an oncogenic regulator of the Mdm2-p53 axis in colorectal cancer by Zhongyu Wang, Bo Yao, Weiran He, Xiaorui Guo, Ning Yu, Suyun Tang, Linzhu Luo, Fang Wang, Kailiang Zhao, Yide Mei (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13370000.txt.
Description
Zhongyu Wang and co-authors report a cancer biology study, published in 2026, exposing a helper that keeps the guardian protein p53 suppressed in colorectal cancer. The enzyme Mdm2 tags p53 for destruction, and this study finds the protein USP21 guarding Mdm2 itself. Laboratory work showed USP21 binds Mdm2 and holds it steady, not by trimming tags as its enzyme family usually does, but as a scaffold.
The scaffold brings in a second enzyme that further stabilizes Mdm2, speeding p53's destruction and letting tumors grow. Tumors carried extra USP21, and patients with normal p53 genes fared worse when levels ran high, while mutant p53 cases showed no such link. The authors nominate USP21 as a drug target for restoring p53's guard duty.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zhongyu Wang, Bo Yao, Weiran He, Xiaorui Guo, Ning Yu, Suyun Tang, Linzhu Luo, Fang Wang, Kailiang Zhao, Yide Mei |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 63 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |