Research progress on the mechanisms of S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 in fibrotic diseases

S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2) is one of the components of E3 ubiquitin ligase, which can induce proteasome-mediated proteolysis or regulate labeled substrates to promote cell proliferation and migration and inhibit cell apoptosis and senescence by connecting the ubiquitin chains of K48 and K63 to different substrates. Skp2 is also a potential drug target in a variety of fibrotic diseases, is highly expressed in a variety of fibrotic diseases, and regulates the occurrence and progression of these diseases. This paper reviews Skp2's structure, downstream targets, and cellular regulation and then focuses on research progress on Skp2 in various fibrotic diseases, such as liver fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, renal fibrosis, corneal fibrosis, and cardiac fibrosis, which may help provide a new research approaches for clinical development of Skp2-targeted antifibrotic drugs.