Ubiquitin-specific protease 21 promotes tumorigenicity and stemness of colorectal cancer by deubiquitinating and stabilizing ZEB1

Figure 1 Ubiquitin-specific protease 21 and ZEB1 exhibited higher expression, and resulted into poor prognosis. A: The mRNA expressions of ubiquitin-specific protease 21 (USP21) and ZEB1 were confirmed in normal tissues and colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues through real time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); B: The correlation between USP21 and ZEB1 was verified; C: The prognosis of CRC patients with low or high USP21 (or ZEB1) was determined; D: The mRNA expressions of USP21 and ZEB1 were assessed in normal colonic epithelial cells (NCM460) and CRC cells (HCT-116, SW480, SW620, LoVo) through RT-qPCR; E: The protein expressions of USP21 and ZEB1 were assessed in normal colonic epithelial cells (NCM460) and CRC cells (HCT-116, SW480, SW620, LoVo) through western blot. ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001. USP21: Ubiquitin-specific protease 21.