NEDD8 promotes the tumor progression and predicts the poor prognosis of patients with bladder cancer.

Neddylation has been researched in many different human carcinomas. However, the roles of neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 8 (NEDD8) in bladder cancer were still unknown. Our study was the first study which systematically investigated the possible functions of NEDD8 in bladder cancer (BC) progression. We performed immunohistochemistry to explore the associations between the expression of NEDD8 in tumor tissues and clinical outcomes of patients. RT-qPCR and western blot were used to detect the expressional levels of genes. The biological abilities of cell proliferation, migration and invasion were researched by in vitro and in vivo experiments. And the results were as follows: Data from TCGA database showed that NEDD8 was overexpressed in BC tissues and associated with the worse survivals of patients. The results of immunohistochemistry in our study found that NEDD8 was significantly associated with the poor clinical outcomes of BC patients. Suppression of NEDD8 could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of tumor cells. Knocking down of NEDD8 could induce the apoptosis and G2 phase arrest of cell cycle progression. In vivo, suppression of NEDD8 could restrict the growth and metastasis of tumors in mice. In conclusion, NEDD8 possessed important roles in regulating the progression of BC cells and was associated with the poor prognosis of patients, which may become a potential therapeutic target of BC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.