本文采用的英格恩产品: 其它病毒感染增强试剂
SWI/SNF subunit SMARCD1 deficiency promotes clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression via mitochondrial reprogramming.
Affiliations
- 1 Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
- 2 Hubei Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center for Minimally Invasive Treatment of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China.
- 3 Center for Human Genome Research, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
- 4 Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. chaoaa@connect.ust.hk.
- 5 Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Disease, Wuhan, China. chaoaa@connect.ust.hk.
- 6 Center for Proteomics and Drug Innovation, Zhangjiajie College, Zhangjiajie, China. chaoaa@connect.ust.hk.
- 7 Center for Proteomics and Drug Innovation, Zhangjiajie College, Zhangjiajie, China.
- 8 Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
- 9 Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Disease, Wuhan, China.
- 10 Center for Human Genome Research, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. wangqing118@hust.edu.cn.
- 11 Center for Human Genome Research, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. yaoyfeng@hust.edu.cn.
- 12 Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. 2013tj0589@hust.edu.cn.
- 13 Hubei Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center for Minimally Invasive Treatment of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China. 2013tj0589@hust.edu.cn.
- PMID: 42988793
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-78285-3
Abstract
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains a lethal malignancy driven in part by SWI/SNF dysfunction, yet the mechanistic basis of this link is unclear. We identify SMARCD1, a core SWI/SNF subunit, as a tumor suppressor progressively silenced by DNMT3B-mediated promoter hypermethylation in ccRCC. SMARCD1 loss enables DDX3X binding to the MAFF promoter, leading to transcriptional upregulation of MAFF, which in turn promotes ubiquitin-mediated degradation of the mitochondrial fusion protein MFN1. The SMARCD1-MAFF-MFN1 axis disrupts mitochondrial fusion, reprograms metabolism toward oxidative phosphorylation, and enhances metastatic potential. Therapeutically, pharmacological restoration of MFN1 with the FDA-approved immunosuppressant leflunomide reverses mitochondrial dysfunction and suppresses tumor progression in multiple preclinical models. In patient-derived xenografts, leflunomide also potentiates tyrosine kinase inhibitor and immune checkpoint blockade efficacy. These findings establish a direct link between chromatin remodeling defects and mitochondrial dysregulation and highlight leflunomide repurposing as a clinically actionable strategy in SMARCD1-deficient ccRCC.