RNF180 mediates STAT3 activity by regulating the expression of RhoC via the proteasomal pathway in gastric cancer cells

Background: Ring finger protein 180 (RNF180) is an important member of the E3 ubiquitin ligase family. As a tumor suppressor gene, RNF180 is significantly associated with the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC) and can inhibit the proliferation, invasion, and migration of GC cells. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is considered one of the most common oncogenes in human cancers with a key role in GC progression. In this study, we explored the relationship between RNF180 and STAT3 in GC cells. Methods The RNF180 gene was significantly overexpressed to observe its regulatory activity on STAT3 and pSTAT3 in GC cells. We then explored the molecular signaling pathways by which RNF180 could potentially regulate STAT3 through transcriptomics and proteomics experiments. Results RNF180 overexpression could suppress STAT3 phosphorylation in GC cells. Ubiquitin label-free experiments showed that the ubiquitination level of Ras homolog gene family member C (RhoC) is significantly increased in GC cells transfected with an RNF180 expression vector (RNF180-GFP vector) compared with cells transfected with an empty vector (vehicle vector). We subsequently demonstrated that RNF180 could directly combine with RhoC and promote the ubiquitination and degradation of RhoC protein in GC cells. The phosphorylation level of STAT3 significantly decreased in GC cells after RhoC knockdown using small hairpin RNA(shRNA). Conclusions RNF180 could inhibit GC progression by reducing the phosphorylation of STAT3 via the ubiquitination and degradation of RhoC protein in GC cells. Thus, the protein may be considered a novel therapeutic target for patients with GC.