USP22-dependent accumulation of lipidomes drives hepatocellular carcinoma progression by stabilizing PPARγ

Abstract Elevated de novo lipogenesis (DNL) is considered to be a crucial factor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. However, the molecular mechanism for its occurrence in HCC is still unclear. Herein, we identified ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) as a key regulator for de novo fatty acid synthesis, which directly interacts with, deubiquitinates and stabilizes PPARγ through K48-linked deubiquitination, and in turn, this stabilization increases ACC and ACLY transcription. In addition, we found that USP22 promoted the de novo synthesis of fatty acid labeling from glucose tracers. USP22-dysregulated de novo fatty acid synthesis contributes to HCC progression, but USP22 was functionality suppressed by inhibiting the expression of PPARγ, ACLY, or ACC in in vitro cell proliferation and in vivo tumorigenesis experiments. In HCC, USP22 expression positively correlates with PPARγ expression, and simultaneously, high expression of USP22 and PPARγ or USP22, ACC and ACLY is associated with a poor prognosis. Taken together, we identified a previously undescribed USP22-regulated lipogenesis molecular mechanism that involves the PPARγ-ACLY/ACC axis in HCC tumorigenesis and provide a rationale for therapeutic targeting of lipogenesis via USP22 inhibition.