SETDB1 induces H3K9me3 methylation modification of RASSF2 to inhibit PTEN and facilitate ovarian cancer progression.
Ovarian cancer (OV) is one of the deadliest gynecological malignancies, and its high heterogeneity significantly impacts treatment efficacy. Against this background, the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of this lethal disease have attracted extensive research attention. However, the pathogenic mechanisms of OV remain incompletely understood. Therefore, this study systematically investigates the pathogenesis of OV. This study collected 20 paired clinical samples comprising OV tissues and benign ovarian tissues to investigate RASSF2 expression. The biological effects of RASSF2 were investigated using both in vitro and in vivo models, including assessments of proliferation and migration. The impact of RASSF2 on PTEN protein stability was examined through co-immunoprecipitation and cycloheximide (CHX) chase assays. Additionally, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was performed to investigate the SETDB1/RASSF2 interaction and H3K9me3 modifications on the chromatin of RASSF2. OV tissues exhibited significantly lower RASSF2 expression compared to normal tissues, and this reduction was associated with poorer patient survival. Overexpression of RASSF2 inhibited the proliferation and migration of OV cells. Additionally, RASSF2 inhibited OV growth in vivo. Mechanistically, RASSF2 stabilized PTEN expression to inhibit the activation of PI3K/AKT pathway. In addition, SETDB1 drove OV progression by increasing H3K9me3 enrichment at the RASSF2 promoter to negatively regulate RASSF2 expression. H3K9me3‑modified RASSF2 promotes ovarian cancer metastasis by regulating PTEN expression, which may offer a potential therapeutic target to counteract distant dissemination of OV.