Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40877242›Full record

ArticleCell death & disease2025

DCAF7 recruits USP2 to facilitate hepatocellular carcinoma progression by suppressing clockophagy-induced ferroptosis.

Honglv Jiang, Xiaohui Wang, Zhenhua Zhu, Cheng Song, Dan Li, Yixuan Yun, Li Hui, Leilei Bao, Darran P O'Connor, Jingjing Ma and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell death & disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Crosstalk between autophagy and ferroptosis in liver diseases (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Honglv JiangJiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Precision Diagnostics and Therapeutics Development, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemic Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2853-2477
Xiaohui WangJiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Precision Diagnostics and Therapeutics Development, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemic Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Zhenhua ZhuResearch Center of Biological Psychiatry, Suzhou Guangji Hospital, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Cheng SongJiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Precision Diagnostics and Therapeutics Development, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemic Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Dan LiJiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Precision Diagnostics and Therapeutics Development, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemic Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Yixuan YunJiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Precision Diagnostics and Therapeutics Development, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemic Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Li HuiResearch Center of Biological Psychiatry, Suzhou Guangji Hospital, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6162-1335
Leilei BaoDepartment of Pharmacy, Shanghai Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Darran P O'ConnorDepartment of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Jingjing MaDepartment of Pharmacy, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou Dushu Lake Hospital, Medical Center of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. jingjingmajj@suda.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6731-1266
Guoqiang XuJiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Precision Diagnostics and Therapeutics Development, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemic Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. gux2002@suda.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4753-4769

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

DDB1- and CUL4-associated factor 7 (DCAF7) has recently been identified as a critical regulator of tumorigenesis and a potential modulator of ferroptosis. However, the precise function of DCAF7 in regulating the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ferroptosis remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that DCAF7 and the deubiquitinase USP2 are highly expressed in HCC. Genetic ablation of DCAF7 or pharmacological inhibition of USP2 sensitizes HCC to ferroptosis and inhibits HCC progression both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, DCAF7 recruits USP2 to inhibit clockophagy (the selective autophagic degradation of core clock protein BMAL1 mediated through p62/SQSTM1) by reducing BMAL1 K63-linked polyubiquitination. Targeting either DCAF7 or USP2 triggers clockophagy-induced ferroptosis through the HIF1α-SLC7A11 axis in HCC cells. Collectively, our study establishes DCAF7 and USP2 as novel suppressors of clockophagy-induced ferroptosis and reveals the potential therapeutic targets for HCC treatment.

Indexed as

AutophagyCarcinoma, HepatocellularFerroptosisLiver NeoplasmsUbiquitin ThiolesteraseAnimalsARNTL Transcription FactorsCell Line, TumorDisease ProgressionHumansHypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha SubunitMiceARNTL Transcription FactorsHypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha SubunitUbiquitin ThiolesteraseUSP2 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID40877242
PMCPMC12394690

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.