PSMA7 Directly Interacts with NOD1 and Regulates its Function

Background/Aims: Recent reports showed that proteasome subunit alpha type-7 (PSMA7) was overexpressed in colorectal cancer. To investigate the mechanism of PSMA7 in promotion of colorectal cancer, we screened for its interaction partners. Methods and Results: This study found that PSMA7 associated with nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1 (NOD1) by yeast two-hybrid screening, co-immunoprecipitation (IP), and GST-pull down assay. As shown by Western blotting and ubiquitin assay, PSMA7 downregulated the expression of NOD1 in a proteasome-dependent manner. Overexpression of PSMA7 in HCT116 cells resulted in an inhibition of NOD1-mediated apoptosis and NF-κB activation, whereas knockdown of PSMA7 by RNA interference enhanced NOD1 activity. Conclusion: Our data suggest that PSMA7 is a negative regulator of the NOD1, and may promote tumor growth by its inhibitory role on NOD1