The F-box protein, FBXO7 is required to maintain chromosome stability in humans.

Despite the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with colorectal cancer (CRC), the aberrant genes and mechanisms driving CRC pathogenesis remain poorly understood. Chromosome instability (CIN), or ongoing changes in chromosome numbers, is a predominant form of genome instability associated with ~ 85% of CRCs, suggesting it may be a key mechanism driving CRC oncogenesis. CIN enables the acquisition of copy number alterations conferring selective growth, proliferation and survival advantages that promote cellular transformation. Despite these associations, the aberrant genes underlying CIN remain largely unknown. Candidate CIN gene FBXO7 encodes an F-box protein, a subunit of the SCF (SKP1-CUL1-FBOX) complex that confers substrate specificity to the complex, and targets proteins for subsequent degradation by the 26S proteasome. Recently, the genes encoding the three core SCF complex members were identified as CIN genes; however, it is unknown whether F-box proteins exhibit similar integral roles in maintaining chromosome stability. Using short- (siRNA) and long- (CRISPR/Cas9) term approaches, we show that reduced FBXO7 expression induces CIN in various colonic epithelial cell contexts, while FBXO7-knockout clones also exhibit hallmarks associated with cellular transformation, namely increased clonogenic and anchorage independent growth. Collectively, these data demonstrate that FBXO7 is required to maintain genome stability identifying FBXO7 a novel CIN gene whose reduced expression may contribute to CRC development and progression.