Cervical cancer genomics: an initial step towards personalized approach to therapy

miR-638 suppresses cervical cancer progression by inhibiting NCAPG2 under the treatment of Tetrandrine

BACKGROUND

The interaction of microRNA with Chinese herbal medicines is a promising therapeutic approach for prevention of cervical cancer.

METHODS

Western blotting or qRT-PCR were carried out to identify the expression of NCAPG2 and miR-638. A tetrandrine (TET) cell model was used to explore the effects of miR-638 and its target gene NCAPG2 using CCK-8, transwell, wound healing, and western blot assays. Furthermore, luciferase activity assay was conducted to measure the interaction among TET, NCAPG2 and miR-638.

RESULTS

Under TET treatment, Hela and SiHa cells exhibited repressed cell viability, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and these effects were further enhanced by high expression of miR-638. In contrast, NCAPG2 expression was low in TET-treated cells and had an opposite effect to that of miR-638.

CONCLUSION

We highlighted that miR-638 suppresses cervical cancer progression by inhibiting NCAPG2 under tetrandrine treatment.

Hallmarks of glycogene expression and glycosylation pathways in squamous and adenocarcinoma cervical cancer

Background

Dysregulation of glycogene expression in cancer can lead to aberrant glycan expression, which can promote tumorigenesis. Cervical cancer (CC) displays an increased expression of glycogenes involved in sialylation and sialylated glycans. Here, we show a comprehensive analysis of glycogene expression in CC to identify glycogene expression signatures and the possible glycosylation pathways altered.

Methods

First, we performed a microarray expression assay to compare glycogene expression changes between normal and cervical cancer tissues. Second, we used 401 glycogenes to analyze glycogene expression in adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma from RNA-seq data at the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics.

Results

The analysis of the microarray expression assay indicated that CC displayed an increase in glycogenes related to GPI-anchored biosynthesis and a decrease in genes associated with chondroitin and dermatan sulfate with respect to normal tissue. Also, the glycogene analysis of CC samples by the RNA-seq showed that the glycogenes involved in the chondroitin and dermatan sulfate pathway were downregulated. Interestingly the adenocarcinoma tumors displayed a unique glycogene expression signature compared to squamous cancer that shows heterogeneous glycogene expression divided into six types. Squamous carcinoma type 5 (SCC-5) showed increased expression of genes implicated in keratan and heparan sulfate synthesis, glycosaminoglycan degradation, ganglio, and globo glycosphingolipid synthesis was related to poorly differentiated tumors and poor survival. Squamous carcinoma type 6 (SCC-6) displayed an increased expression of genes involved in chondroitin/dermatan sulfate synthesis and lacto and neolacto glycosphingolipid synthesis and was associated with nonkeratinizing squamous cancer and good survival. In summary, our study showed that CC tumors are not a uniform entity, and their glycome signatures could be related to different clinicopathological characteristics.

ADGRG1 Is a Predictor of Chemoresistance and Poor Survival in Cervical Squamous Carcinoma

Background

Cisplatin is the first-line chemotherapy for cervical cancer. Cisplatin resistance has always been one of the most significant barriers to acquiring better outcomes. However, the complex molecular mechanisms accounting for the phenomenon are not completely clear.

Methods

Construction of the cisplatin-resistant cell model of cervical cancer, then performing RNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of the differential expression genes. Then Adhesion G protein-coupled receptor G1 (ADGRG1) was screened out as our target gene. Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) was searched to show the expression level of ADGRG1 in cervical cancer and normal tissue. Kaplan-Meier Plotter (Kmplot) was used to explore the relationship of its expression with survival data. Tissue specimens were used to verify the relationship between the clinicopathological characteristics and ADGRG1 expression. Then we explored the roles of ADGRG1 in tumorigenesis through in vitro and in vivo assays.

Results

We found the ADGRG1 was significantly overexpressed in cervical cancer tissues compared to corresponding normal tissues. Higher ADGRG1 expression was correlated with poor progress-free survival. Knockdown of ADGRG1 markedly suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and increased cell sensitivity to cisplatin in vitro. Similarly, the role of ADGRG1 knockdown on tumorigenicity and sensitivity to cisplatin treatment was verified in vivo. The underlying mechanism was explored by western blotting that ADGRG1 knockdown inhibited tumorigenesis by PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Conclusion

ADGRG1 acts as an oncogene to maintain tumorigenicity, migration, and invasion, and its depressed expression prompts sensitivity to cisplatin. Thus, ADGRG1 may represent a potential prognostic marker and possible therapeutic target for cervical cancer.

TAF1A and ZBTB41 serve as novel key genes in cervical cancer identified by integrated approaches

Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality in women. Numerous studies have found that the development of CC was associated with multiple genes. However, the mechanisms on gene level are enigmatic, hindering the understanding of its functional roles. This study sought to identify prognostic biomarkers of CC, and explore their biological functions. Here we conducted an integrated analysis to screen potential vital genes. Candidate genes were further tested by experiments in clinical specimens and cancer cell line. Then, molecular modeling was used to predict the three-dimensional structure of candidate genes’ proteins, and the interaction pattern was analyzed by docking simulation technique. Among the potential genes identified, we found that TAF1A and ZBTB41 were highly correlated. Furthermore, there was a definite interaction between the proteins of TAF1A and ZBTB41, which was affected by the activity of the p53 signaling pathway. In conclusion, our findings identified TAF1A and ZBTB41 could serve as biomarkers of CC. We confirmed their biological function and deciphered their interaction for the first time, which may be helpful for developing further researches.