358 ISSN 1990-519X, Cell and Tissue Biology, 2020, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 358–364. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2020. Russian Text © The Author(s), 2020, published in Tsitologiya, 2020, Vol. 62, No. 3, pp. 181–188. Changes in the Level of Usp28 Deubiquitinase in the Cell Cycle of HCT116 Intestinal Adenocarcinoma Cells Indicate Its Functional Role in the Regulation of G 1 /S Transition V. M. Ryabov a , E. N. Petrova a , and B. V. Popov a, * a Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 194064 Russia *e-mail: borisvp478@gmail.com Received November 19, 2019; revised December 2, 2019; accepted December 5, 2019 Abstract—Usp28 is a deubiquitinating enzyme that removes ubiquitin from its conjugates with substrates and prevents their degradation in proteasomes. Modern publications show that Usp28 and the Fbw7 ubiquitin ligase create a functional pair of proteins that controls ubiquitin-mediated degradation of key regulators of cellular functions, including Myc, Jun, Nicd, and Hif1. In this pair of proteins, Usp28 counteracts the destructive activity of Fbw7 and plays the role of a factor promoting tumor growth. Since the Usp28 targets are the Myc and Jun proteins associated with the cell cycle, we suggested that Usp28 regulates cell division and its level may change during the cell cycle. The aim of this work was to assess changes in the level of Usp28 during the cell cycle in HCT116 human intestinal carcinoma cells. HCT116 cells were synchronized by 72-h cultivation in a growth medium with a low serum content. In asynchronously dividing cells, the level of Usp28 was low and its localization was detected as nuclear–cytoplasmic. The general level of Usp28 and the degree of its nuclear localization increased in cells from the state of asynchronous growth to the late phase G 1 fol- lowed by a decrease and redistribution of protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm after the completion of phase G 1 . According to immunoblot data, the fluctuations in the levels of Usp28 and Cdc25A phosphatase in synchronized HCT116 cells in the cell cycle coincided. The immunofluorescence data directly corresponded to the results of immunoblotting. The results suggest that Usp28 can regulate the level and functional activity of the Cdc25A protein that controls the entry of cells into the DNA replication phase. Keywords: intestinal adenocarcinoma, Usp28 deubiquitinase, cell cycle, regulation of G 1 /S transition DOI: 10.1134/S1990519X20050065 Usp28 is a protein with a molecular mass of 140 kDa that is a member of the family of deubiquitinating enzymes that remove ubiquitin from substrates and neutralize the activity of ubiquitin ligase and subse- quent degradation of substrates in proteasomes (Amerik et al., 2004). Current studies show that Usp28 and the Fbw7 ubiquitin ligase form a functional pro- tein pair that controls ubiquitin-mediated degradation of several key regulators of cellular functions, includ- ing Myc, Jun, Nicd, and Hif1. The degradation of these substrates with Fbw7 is prevented by Usp28 deu- biquitinase (Popov et al., 2007; Flugel et al., 2012; Diefenbacher et al., 2014). Under normal conditions, Usp28 forms a complex with Fbw7 and prevents sub- strate ubiquitination. In this pair, Usp28 counteracts the destructive activity of Fbw7 and plays the role of a factor promoting tumor growth (Popov et al., 2007; Diefenbacher et al., 2014; Diefenbacher et al., 2015). The Usp28 protein protease was discovered by ana- lyzing the composition of complexes formed by phys- ical interaction with a p53-binding protein (53BP) in response to damage caused by double DNA breaks (Zhang et al., 2006). Usp28 mediates the stabilization of Chk2 and 53BP and the induction of apoptosis in human H-460 carcinoma cells and murine B cells with an induced DNA damage response. The loss of Usp28 increases the resistance of cells to apoptosis induced by ultraviolet or X-ray irradiation and makes them resemble mouse cells that do not express Chk2 and p53 (Zhang et al., 2006). The response to DNA dam- age includes, as one of the key mechanisms, cell cycle arrest, which is caused by the degradation of Cdc25A phosphatase, which forms the G 1 /S check point medi- ated by inactivation of the Cdk2/cyclin E complex (Busino et al., 2003; Jin et al., 2003). In response to DNA damage, Cdc25A is polyubiquitinated and degraded, whereas treating cells with the proteasome LLnL inhibitor immediately after ultraviolet irradia- tion prevents a decrease in the Cdc25A phosphatase level (Jin et al., 2003). Abbreviations: Fbw7—ubiquitin ligase 7 (F-box/WD repeat- containing protein 7), Hif1α—factor sensitive to 1-α hypoxia, Usp28—ubiquitin-specific protease.