<italic>UHRF1</italic> knockdown induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in breast cancer cells through the ZBTB16/ANXA7/Cyclin B1 axis

Ubiquitin-like containing PHD and RING finger domains 1 (UHRF1) is involved in tumorigenicity through DNA methylation in various cancers, including breast cancer. This study aims to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of UHRF1 in breast cancer progression. Herein, we show that UHRF1 is upregulated in breast cancer tissues and cell lines as measured by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Breast cancer cells are transfected with a UHRF1 overexpression plasmid (pcDNA-UHRF1) or short hairpin RNA targeting UHRF1 (sh-UHRF1), followed by detection of cell proliferation, invasion, apoptosis, and cell cycle. UHRF1 overexpression promotes proliferation and invasion and attenuates cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in breast cancer cells, while <i>UHRF1</i> knockdown shows the opposite effect. Moreover, methylation-specific PCR and ChIP assays indicate that UHRF1 inhibits zinc finger and BTB domain containing 16 (ZBTB16) expression by promoting ZBTB16 promoter methylation via the recruitment of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). Then, a co-IP assay is used to verify the interaction between ZBTB16 and the annexin A7 (ANXA7) protein. ZBTB16 promotes ANXA7 expression and subsequently inhibits Cyclin B1 expression. Rescue experiments reveal that <i>ZBTB16</i> knockdown reverses the inhibitory effects of <i>UHRF1</i> knockdown on breast cancer cell malignancies and that <i>ANXA7</i> knockdown abolishes the inhibitory effects of ZBTB16 overexpression on breast cancer cell malignancies. Additionally, <i>UHRF1</i> knockdown significantly inhibits xenograft tumor growth <i>in vivo</i>. In conclusion, <i>UHRF1</i> knockdown inhibits proliferation and invasion, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in breast cancer cells via the ZBTB16/ANXA7/Cyclin B1 axis, and reduces xenograft tumor growth <i>in vivo</i>.