Although these results indicate that USP46 may regulate PPM1B expression in cultured cells, clinical data from the transcriptional datasets of NSCLC revealed that USP12 but not USP46 expression was downregulated in tumour specimens compared with normal tissues (Supplementary Fig. 3i and Fig. 1e, f) and that the abundance of USP46 transcripts in tumours was apparently lower in comparison with USP12 mRNA levels (Supplementary Fig. 3j). The gene discussed is USP12; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.