Cenpe-flox Mouse

Cenpe, short for centromeric protein E, is a microtubule plus-end-directed kinetochore protein, belonging to the centromere protein (CENP) family. It plays a crucial role in mitosis and is involved in cell cycle-related processes. Heterozygous mutations in Cenpe can lead to primary microcephaly syndrome [1,4].

In non-WNT/non-SHH medulloblastoma, Cenpe is highly expressed compared to normal tissues and serves as an independent prognostic factor for survival. Knockdown of Cenpe inhibits cell proliferation by activating the p53 signaling pathway and blocking the cell cycle [1].

In pulmonary hypertension, Cenpe deficiency significantly inhibits the development of pulmonary vascular remodeling and right ventricular hypertrophy, and knocking out Cenpe effectively inhibits the proliferation and induces apoptosis of primary pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells [2].

In cervical cancer, Cenpe expression is upregulated, promoting the progression of cervical squamous cell carcinoma through IL-6-mediated PI3K-Akt and MAPK signaling pathways [3].

In medulloblastoma cells, CENPE knockdown induces mitotic defects, apoptosis, and endogenous DNA damage accumulation, activating TP53 or TP73 as well as cell death signaling pathways [4].

In glioblastoma, Cenpe promotes proliferation by directly binding to WEE1 and regulating the G0-G1 and G2/M phase transitions [5].

In chemoresistant acute myeloid leukemia, knockdown of Cenpe expression suppresses the proliferation of myeloid leukemia cells and reverses cytarabine chemoresistance [6].

In esophageal adenocarcinoma, high Cenpe expression is associated with unfavorable overall survival, and its expression is related to DNA methylation status [7].

In chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, Cenpe is highly expressed and is an important prognostic biomarker, and its function is mainly enriched in proliferation-related pathways [8].

In non-small cell lung cancer, high expression of Cenpe is related to poor prognosis [9].

In lung adenocarcinoma, Cenpe promotes proliferation and is directly regulated by FOXM1 [10].

In conclusion, Cenpe is a key protein in cell cycle-related processes and mitosis. Research using gene-knockout or knockdown models has revealed its significance in various diseases, including different types of cancers and pulmonary hypertension. These findings suggest that Cenpe could be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for these diseases.