Fig. 1: PSMD14 is a candidate DUB of ERα that correlates with poor prognosis in ER positive breast cancer.

A Diagram of the screening procedure used to identify ERα DUBs. Each of the 76 human DUB genes was knocked down in MCF-7 cells with 20uM pooled siRNAs. After 48 h, the quantitative gene expression analysis was detected by Real-time PCR. B The classical target gene TFF1 was used to indicate ERα. The siRNA screening data showed that PSMD14 was required for TFF1 gene expression in MCF-7 cells. C, D PSMD14 expression level was significantly elevated in breast cancer tissues compared to normal tissues from TCGA database (https://www.genome.gov/). E The PSMD14 expression level was significantly elevated in ER positive breast cancer tissues compared with normal breast tissue. Data were generated from the TCGA database (https://www.genome.gov/). F The PSMD14 expression level was significantly elevated in breast cancer tissues of different stages compared with normal breast tissue. Data were generated from the TCGA database (https://www.genome.gov/). G–J Kaplan−Meier analysis showing relapse-free survival depending on PSMD14 expression levels from public meta-analysis data (https://kmplot.com). PSMD14 expression was correlated with poor survival in ERα positive human breast cancer but not in HER2 positive and triple negative breast cancer. P values were calculated using log-rank test. K, L Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of PSMD14 protein is significantly increased in breast cancer compared with normal breast tissue. Statistical analysis of PSMD14 expression in 25 breast cancer samples. All P values were calculated by unpaired two-tailed Student’s t tests. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.