RCE1 and acute myeloid leukemia: With respect to USP17 that plays a critical role in regulating protein stability and cellular signaling pathways involving the Ras small GTPases family [42,43], we found that the protein expression of USP17 was upregulated in non-senescent HepG2 and AML-12 cells and increased further in senescent HepG2 and AML-12 cells in response to the anti-HIV drugs, which was associated with reduced RCE1 and increased RAB18.