Exploring the role of ubiquitin regulatory X domain family proteins in cancers - bioinformatics insights, mechanisms, and implications for therapy

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick

UBXD family proteins (UBXDF), containing ubiquitin regulatory X (UBX) domains, are implicated in cancer-related dysregulation of proliferation and apoptosis. This review integrates bioinformatics evidence from multi-omics databases with literature to characterize UBXDF effects in cancers, emphasizing that FAF1 shows the highest gene alteration burden within the UBXD family and associates with survival and tumor progression. It further links UBXDF to tumor microenvironment and drug therapy and compares in vitro/in vivo mechanisms with clinical and targeted drug implications, outlining future research directions for UBXDF studies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

UBXD/UBXDF and ubiquitin-related regulation

Prior oncology studies and review rationale

Data sources and bioinformatics evidence

Abstract

UBXDF dysregulation in cancer

Bioinformatics findings (FAF1 and gene alterations)

Tumor microenvironment, therapy implications, and future directions

Yang et al. Journal of Translational Medicine (2024) 22:157 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-024-04890-9](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-024-04890-9) Journal of Translational Medicine REVIEW Open Access Exploring the role of ubiquitin regulatory X domain family proteins in cancers: bioinformatics insights, mechanisms, and implications for therapy Enyu Yang1† , Xiaowei Fan1†, Haihan Ye1, Xiaoyang Sun3, Qing Ji2, Qianyun Ding4, Shulian Zhong5, Shuo Zhao1, Cheng Xuan1, Meiyu Fang2*, Xianfeng Ding1* and Jun Cao2* Abstract UBXD family (UBXDF), a group of proteins containing ubiquitin regulatory X (UBX) domains, play a crucial role in the imbalance of proliferation and apoptotic in cancer. In this study, we summarised bioinformatics proof on multiomics databases and literature on UBXDF’s effects on cancer. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that Fas-associated factor 1 (FAF1) has the largest number of gene alterations in the UBXD family and has been linked to survival and cancer progression in many cancers. UBXDF may affect tumour microenvironment (TME) and drugtherapy and should be investigated in the future. We also summarised the experimental evidence of the mechanism of UBXDF in cancer, both in vitro and in vivo, as well as its application in clinical and targeted drugs. We compared bioinformatics and literature to provide a multi-omics insight into UBXDF in cancers, review proof and mechanism of UBXDF effects on cancers, and prospect future research directions in-depth. We hope that this paper will be helpful for direct cancer-related UBXDF studies. Keywords UBXD, Bioinformatic, Cancers, Mechanism, Drugtherapy †Enyu Yang and Xiaowei Fan contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence: Meiyu Fang [fangmy@zjcc.org.cn](fangmy@zjcc.org.cn)[ ](fangmy@zjcc.org.cn)Xianfeng Ding [xfding@zstu.edu.cn](xfding@zstu.edu.cn)[ ](xfding@zstu.edu.cn)Jun Cao [caojun@zjcc.org.cn](caojun@zjcc.org.cn) 1 School of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China 2 Key Laboratory of Head & Neck Cancer Translational Research of Zhejiang Province, Department of Head and Neck and Rare Oncology, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China 3 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, Special Administrative Region, China 4 Department of ‘A’, The Children’s Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China 5 Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Hospital, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ()[. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ()[http://creativeco](http://creativeco)[mmons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/](mmons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the

FAQs

What are UBXD family (UBXDF) proteins and why are they relevant to cancer?

UBXDF proteins are defined by ubiquitin regulatory X (UBX) domains. The review links UBXDF dysregulation to imbalance in cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis.

Which UBXD member shows the most gene alterations and what does it associate with?

The review highlights Fas-associated factor 1 (FAF1) as having the largest number of gene alterations within the UBXD family, with associations to survival and cancer progression across multiple cancers.

How does UBXDF relate to tumor microenvironment and therapeutic outcomes?

The review suggests UBXDF may influence the tumor microenvironment (TME) and drug therapy, and it discusses evidence connecting UBXDF to drug sensitivity using multi-omics resources and cited mechanisms.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick