Centromere protein U facilitates metastasis of ovarian cancer cells by targeting high mobility group box 2 expression.

Ovarian carcinoma is a fatal malignancy in gynecological malignancies, and the prognosis still remains poor due to the lack of effective therapeutic targets. This study demonstrated that centromere protein U (CENPU) was up-regulated in ovarian cancer. The ectopic expression of CENPU in ovarian cancer cells expedited the proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells in vitro. Besides, the over-expression of CENPU markedly advanced the tumorigenicity of ovarian cancer cells in vivo whereas knocked-down CENPU resulted in opposite outcome. In addition, high mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) identified as a down-target of CENPU in ovarian cancer cells was positively correlated with the expression level of CENPU in ovarian cancer tissues. Finally, it was demonstrated that CENPU could enhance the aggressiveness ability of the ovarian cancer cells by regulating HMGB2. This research provided new insight for CENPU, promoted the progression of ovarian cancer and represented a novel target for anti-ovarian cancer therapy.