Splicing factor USP39 promotes ovarian cancer malignancy through maintaining efficient splicing of oncogenic HMGA2

Aberrant expression of splicing factors was found to promote tumorigenesis and the development of human malignant tumors. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms and functional relevance remain elusive. We here show that USP39, a component of the spliceosome, is frequently overexpressed in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) and that an elevated level of USP39 is associated with a poor prognosis. USP39 promotes proliferation/invasion in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Importantly, USP39 was transcriptionally activated by the oncogene protein c-MYC in ovarian cancer cells. We further demonstrated that USP39 colocalizes with spliceosome components in nuclear speckles. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that USP39 deletion led to globally impaired splicing that is characterized by skipped exons and overrepresentation of introns and intergenic regions. Furthermore, RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing showed that USP39 preferentially binds to exon-intron regions near 5′ and 3′ splicing sites. In particular, USP39 facilitates efficient splicing of HMGA2 and thereby increases the malignancy of ovarian cancer cells. Taken together, our results indicate that USP39 functions as an oncogenic splicing factor in ovarian cancer and represents a potential target for ovarian cancer therapy.