OBJECTIVES: To investigate the regulatory effects of Aurora-A in regulating proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cervical cancer cells and the role of actin-related protein 2/3 complex subunit 4 (ARPC4) in mediating its effects. METHODS: The plasmids pCDH-NC, pCDH-Aurora-A, and shRNA-ARPC4 were used for inducing Aurora-A overexpression or ARPC4 knockdown in HeLa cells. The cells were divided into vector group, Aurora-A overexpression group, Aurora-A overexpression+ARPC4 knockdown group, and Aurora-A overexpression+NF‑κBp65 inhibitor group and transfected with the corresponding plasmids. The proliferation, colony-forming ability, migration and invasion of the treated Hela cells was evaluated using EdU immunofluorescence assay, crystal violet staining, scratch assay, Transwell assay, and Matrigel assay. Western blotting was performed to detect the changes in cellular expressions of EMT-related proteins and expression levels of NF-κBp65 and ARPC4. RESULTS: The expression of ARPC4 was significantly decreased in HeLa cells with Aurora-A knockdown and increased in Aurora-A-overexpressing cells. Aurora-A overexpression obviously promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of HeLa cells, and these effects was significantly antagonized by ARPC4 knockdown. In Aurora-A-overexpressing cells, the phosphorylation level of NF-κBp65 and the expression level of ARPC4 were increased significantly, and application of the NF‑κBp65 inhibitor obviously lowered the expression level of ARPC4. CONCLUSIONS Aurora-A overexpression upregulates the expression of ARPC4 by activating the NF-κBp65 signaling pathway, thereby promoting migration, invasion and EMT of HeLa cells.
Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Female ; HeLa Cells ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Signal Transduction ; Cell Movement ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Cell Proliferation ; Aurora Kinase A/metabolism* ; Transcription Factor RelA/metabolism* ; Neoplasm Metastasis

OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of CDC20 knockdown on proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells and its underlying mechanism. METHODS: CDC20 expression in cervical cancer tissues was analyzed using the TCGA database, and the protein expressions of CDC20 and β-Catenin in clinical specimens of cervical cancer and adjacent tissues were detected using immunohistochemistry. A dual target sgRNA2&7 sequence for CDC20 gene was designed for CDC20 gene knockdown in cervical cancer C33A cells using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and CDC20 mRNA and protein expression levels in the transfected cells were detected using qRT-PCR and Western blotting. The changes in proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, migration and invasiveness of the transfected cells were evaluated using colony-forming assay, fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and Transwell assay. In the animal experiment, naïve C33A cells and the cells with CDC20 knockdown were injected subcutaneously into the left and right axillae of nude mice (n=5) to observe tumor growth. The expressions of CDC20 and β-Catenin proteins in transfected cells and the xenograft were analyzed using Western blotting, and their interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation (CoIP) and immunofluorescence co-localization assays. RESULTS: Cervical cancer tissues expressed significantly higher CDC20 and β‑Catenin levels than the adjacent tissues. C33A cells with CDC20 knockdown showed reduced proliferation, increased apoptosis, and lowered migration and invasion abilities. CDC20 knockdown significantly suppressed the growth of C33A cell xenograft in nude mice, and the tumor-bearing mice did not exhibit obvious body mass changes. CDC20 and β-Catenin levels were both significantly lowered in C33A cells with CDC20 knockdown. Co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization assays confirmed the interaction between CDC20 and β‑Catenin. CONCLUSIONS CDC20 is highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues, and CDC20 knockdown can suppress proliferation, invasion, and metastasis while enhancing apoptosis of C33A cells, which is closely related with the regulation of the Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway.
Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Female ; Cdc20 Proteins/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation ; Animals ; Cell Movement ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Apoptosis ; Mice, Nude ; beta Catenin/metabolism* ; CRISPR-Cas Systems ; Mice ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Gene Knockout Techniques ; Neoplasm Metastasis

OBJECTIVES: To explore the therapeutic mechanism of Guizhi Fuling (GZFL) Pellets against cervical cancer. METHODS: Publicly available databases were used to identify the targets of GZFL Pellets and cervical cancer to construct the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, followed by GO biological process and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of the hub genes. The "Traditional Chinese Medicine-Active Ingredients-Targets-Pathways" network for GZFL Pellets in cervical cancer treatment was generated using Cytoscape v10.0.0, and molecular docking of the drug and potential targets was performed to predict the specific targets of active components in Guizhi Fuling Pellets. The inhibitory effects of hederagenin, an active ingredient in GZFL Pellets, was tested in cultured cervical cancer cells and in nude mice bearing cervical cancer xenografts. RESULTS: GZFL Pellets contain 338 active components targeting 247 action sites. A total of 10127 cervical cancer-related targets were obtained, and among them 195 were identified as potential therapeutic targets of GZFL Pellets for cervical cancer treatment, including the key targets of GABRA1, PTK2, JAK2, HTR3A, GSR, and IL-17. Molecular docking study showed low binding energies of the active components such as hederagenin, campesterol, and stigmasterol for protein-molecule interaction. GO enrichment analysis suggested that GZFL Pellets inhibited cervical cancer primarily by regulating responses to steroid hormones, oxidative stress, and lipopolysaccharides. Among the active components of GZFL Pellets, hederagenin was found to inhibit cervical cancer cells in vitro and significantly reduced STAT3 phosphorylation level in the cancer cells. In nude mice bearing cervical cancer xenografts, hederagenin effectively inhibited tumor growth rate without causing obvious adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS GZFL Pellets inhibit cervical cancer cell growth through its multiple active components that target different pathways. Among these components, hederagenin inhibits tumor cell growth possibly by directly binding to JAK2 protein to inhibit STAT3 phosphorylation.
Female ; Animals ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathology* ; Mice, Nude ; Humans ; Mice ; Oleanolic Acid/therapeutic use* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ; Cell Line, Tumor ; STAT3 Transcription Factor/metabolism* ; Protein Interaction Maps ; Janus Kinase 2/metabolism*

Conventional cancer therapies, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, often damage normal cells and may induce new tumors. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) selectively target tumor cells while sparing normal cells. Most OVs used in clinical trials have been genetically engineered to enhance their ability to target tumor cells and activate immune responses. To develop a specific OV-based approach for treating cervical cancer, this study constructed an oncolytic adenovirus that delivered a base editor targeting oncogenes to achieve efficient killing of tumor cells through inhibiting tumor growth and directly lysing tumor cells. We utilized the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter to drive the expression of adenovirus early region 1A (E1A) and successfully constructed the P-hTERT-E1A-GFP vector, which was validated for its activity in cervical cancer cells. Given the critical role of the MYC oncogene in the research of oncology, identifying efficient editing sites for the MYC oncogene is a key step in this study.Three MYC-targeting gRNAs were engineered and co-delivered with ABE8e base editor plasmids into HEK293T cells. Following puromycin selection, Sanger sequencing demonstrated differential editing efficiencies: MYC-1 (43%), MYC-2 (25%), and MYC-3 (35%), identifying MYC-1 as the most efficient editing locus. By constructing the P-ABEs-hTERT-E1A-GFP and P-MYC gRNA-hTERT-E1A-GFP vectors, we successfully packaged the virus and confirmed its specificity and efficacy. The experimental results demonstrate that this novel oncolytic adenovirus effectively inhibits the growth of HeLa cells in vitro, providing new experimental evidence and potential strategies for treating cervical cancer based on the HeLa cell model.
Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathology* ; Oncolytic Viruses/genetics* ; Female ; HEK293 Cells ; Oncolytic Virotherapy/methods* ; Adenoviridae/genetics* ; Gene Editing/methods* ; Telomerase/genetics* ; Adenovirus E1A Proteins/genetics* ; Genetic Vectors/genetics* ; HeLa Cells

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer remains to be the second leading cancer and cause of cancer-related deaths among Filipino women despite the use of the Papanicolaou screening. Latest research has shown that the human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary cause of cervical cancer. With major morbidity and high mortality rates associated with HPV infection and cervical cancer, several modes of primary and secondary forms of prevention have to be implemented. Among the primary modes of prevention is the administration of the preventive vaccine, which has consistently shown to decrease substantially HPV disease and cervical cancer rates in developed countries. In our country, before a successful vaccination, program is implemented, several sociocultural issues have to be addressed. Knowledge, attitude, and motivational factors are vital in determining acceptance of the vaccine. One relevant setting is exploring the willingness of mothers to get their female children vaccinated even before they become sexually active.

The aim of the study was to determine the association of the knowledge, attitude, and motivational factors of mothers on their willingness for their female children aged 9–13 years to undergo HPV vaccination at a tertiary government hospital.

This was a cross-sectional study that was carried out at a government institution.

The population consisted of 352 mothers with female children aged 9–13 years consulting the outpatient clinics at the department of obstetrics and gynecology at a tertiary government hospital.

A pretested and validated survey was given to 352 respondents. They were asked to answer a self-administered questionnaire that included sociodemographic, reproductive, sexual history variables, knowledge, and attitude, and motivational factors toward the disease and the associated vaccine.

Using the survey proportion estimation methods, the prevalence of women who were willing to enroll their daughters for HPV vaccination was 97.18% (n = 42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 94.91 to 98.46%). It can be noted that only a third of the sample had high knowledge on the vaccine and its use 34.93% (n = 124, 95% CI: 30.25 to 39.92%). More women who reached college level (χ2: 5.67) and also those whose youngest child was between 11 and 13 years old (χ2: 8.82)-had higher knowledge scores than otherwise. Those who have an annual income of greater than or equal to P 60,000 (χ2: 16.55) and are non-Catholic (χ2: 18.77) – also appeared to have higher knowledge ratings on the questionnaire. Women who never to a few times a year attend church-related activities had higher knowledge scores compared to women who were more frequent goers (χ2: 16.33). For the attitude toward the vaccine, more mothers believed that getting the vaccine would not have an effect on a girl’s sexual activity and most agreed that they would not be viewed as bad parents. Most women also did not believe that religion would affect their willingness to vaccinate their children. There was an association in the degree of agreement between negative and positive attitudes from the Chi-square test performed (χ2: 7.44, P: 0.01). There were more agreeing responses from factors determining positive attitude and more disagreeing responses in the factors determining negative attitude. With regard to motivational factors, more women agreed that the cost was prohibitive and that they were more willing if only two doses would be required for their daughters. They were also not concerned about what other parents may think about getting the vaccine. Most answered that they were willing to follow their doctors’ recommendations and they have trust in vaccine manufacturers. Most women were also concerned that their daughters may get cervical cancer in the future. There was no difference in the proportion of agreeing responses between positive and negative motivating factors among the study participants (Z: 0.30, P: 0.79). This suggested that these factors could be important predictors of willingness to use vaccination on their children. Based on the crude odds ratios from the logistic regression, the likelihood of being willing to administer HPV vaccine to their children was almost twice as the knowledge score and scores on the positive attitude items increased, and was found to be statistically significant. At the same time, the odds of willingness increased by more than twice as the score on the negative attitude items decreased, and was also significant. There was no noted association for the other predictors of the association.

The role of knowledge and attitudes on the negative perceptions on the vaccine were important predictors of the willingness of mothers to have their female children vaccinated against HPV infection.

There have been recent, significant changes in strategies and policies for elimination of cervical cancer and advances in research of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related diseases and their prevention and control. Based on the latest national and international research, and building on a consensus published in 2019, we developed an expert consensus on immunoprophylaxis of cervical cancer and other human papillomavirus-related diseases (2025 edition) in order to provide clinicians, disease prevention and control professionals, and vaccination staff a reference for the prevention and control of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases and systematic, comprehensive evidence-based support for the scientific use of HPV vaccines to optimize their prevention effectiveness.
Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/virology* ; Papillomavirus Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Papillomavirus Infections/prevention & control* ; Female ; Consensus ; Papillomaviridae/immunology* ; Vaccination ; Human Papillomavirus Viruses

BACKGROUND: Cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CESC), the most common subtype of cervical cancer, is primarily caused by the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and genetic susceptibility. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has been widely used in CESC research to uncover the diversity of cell types and states within tumor tissues, enabling a detailed study of the tumor microenvironment (TME). This technology allows precise mapping of HPV infection in cervical tissues, providing valuable insights into the initiation and progression of HPV-mediated malignant transformation. METHODS: We performed the scRNA-seq to characterize gene expression in tumor tissues and paired adjacent para-cancerous tissues from four patients with early-stage CESC using the 10× Genomics platform. The HPV infection and its subtypes were identified using the scRNA data and viral sequence mapping, and trajectory analyses were performed using HPV+ or HPV- cells. Interactions between different types of keratinized cells and their interactions with other cell types were identified, and pathways and specificity markers were screened for proliferating keratinized cells. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset was used to verify the prognostic correlation between tumor-specific PI3+S100A7+ keratinocyte infiltration and CESC, and the localization relationship between PI3+S100A7+ keratinocytes and macrophages was verified by immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: Various types of keratinocytes and fibroblasts were the two cell types with the most significant differences in percentage between the tumor tissue samples and paired adjacent non-cancerous tissue samples in the early stages of CESC. We found that PI3+S100A7+ keratinocytes were associated with early HPV-positive CESC, and PI3+S100A7+ keratinocytes were more abundant in tumors than in adjacent normal tissues in the TCGA-CESC dataset. Analysis of clinical information revealed that the infiltration of PI3+S100A7+ keratinocytes was notably higher in tumors with poor prognosis than in those with good prognosis. Additionally, multiplex immunofluorescence analysis showed a specific increase in PI3+S100A7+ expression within tumor tissues, with PI3+S100A7+ keratinocytes and CD163+ macrophages being spatially very close to each other. In the analysis of cell-cell interactions, macrophages exhibited strong crosstalk with PI3+S100A7+ proliferating keratinocytes in HPV-positive CESC tumors, mediated by tumor necrosis factor (TNF), CCL2, CXCL8, and IL10, highlighting the dynamic and tumor-specific enhancement of macrophage-keratinocyte interactions, which are associated with poor prognosis and immune modulation. Using CIBERSORTx, we discovered that patients with high infiltration of both PI3+S100A7+ proliferating keratinocytes and macrophages had the shortest overall survival. In the analysis of cell-cell interactions, PI3+S100A7+ proliferating keratinocytes and macrophages were found to be involved in highly active pathways that promote differentiation and structure formation, including cytokine receptor interactions, the Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway regulation. Further subtyping of fibroblast populations identified four subtypes. The C1 group, characterized by its predominance in tumor tissues, is a subtype enriched with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), whereas the C3 group is primarily enriched in adjacent non-cancerous tissues and consists of undifferentiated cells. Moreover, the distinct molecular and cellular differences between HPV16- and HPV66-associated tumors were demonstrated, emphasizing the unique tumor-promoting mechanisms and microenvironmental influences driven by each HPV subtype. CONCLUSIONS We discovered a heterogeneous population of keratinocytes between tumor and adjacent non-cancerous tissues caused by HPV infection and identified macrophages and specific CAFs that play a crucial role during the early stage in promoting the inflammatory response and remodeling the cancer-promoting TME. Our findings provide new insights into the transcriptional landscape of early-stage CESC to understand the mechanism of HPV-mediated malignant transformation in cervical cancer.
Humans ; Female ; Papillomavirus Infections/genetics* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology* ; Keratinocytes/metabolism* ; Single-Cell Analysis/methods* ; Tumor Microenvironment/genetics*

BACKGROUND: Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT) is the standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC), but there are still many patients who suffer tumor recurrence. However, valuable predictors of treatment outcomes remain limited. This study aimed to assess the value of the serum immune biomarkers to predict the prognosis. METHODS: We reviewed cervical cancer patients treated with CCRT between January 2014 and May 2018 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The systemic immune inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were calculated using blood samples. The relationship between immune markers and the treatment outcome was analyzed. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive efficiency. The Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank were used to predict overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: This study included 667 patients. Among them, 195 (29.2%) patients were defined as treatment failure, including 127 (19.0%) patients with pelvic failure, 94 (14.1%) distant failure, and 25 (3.7%) concurrent pelvic and distant failure. It revealed that the tumor stage, size, metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs), and serum immune biomarkers, such as SII, SIRI, and LDH, were significantly related to treatment outcomes. We demonstrated that the optimal cut-off of the SII, SIRI, and LDH were 970.4 × 10 9 /L, 1.3 × 10 9 /L, and 207.52 U/L, respectively. Importantly, this study presented that LDH level had the highest OR (OR = 4.2; 95% CI [2.3-10.8]). Furthermore, the OS and DFS for patients with pre-SII ≥970.5 × 10 9 /L were significantly worse than those with pre-SII <970.5 × 10 9 /L. Similarly, pre-SIRI ≥1.25 × 10 9 /L and pre-LDH ≥207.5 U/L were related to poor survival outcomes. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that the baseline SII, SIRI, and LDH levels can be used to accurately and effectively predict the treatment outcomes after CCRT and long-term prognosis. Our results may offer additional prognostic information in clinical, which helps to detect the potential recurrent metastasis in time.
Humans ; Female ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Aged ; Chemoradiotherapy/methods* ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/blood* ; Treatment Outcome ; Disease-Free Survival ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Biomarkers, Tumor/blood* ; Proportional Hazards Models

Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathology* ; Female ; Patient Care Team ; Consensus ; China ; Neoplasm Staging ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Quality of Life ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/therapy* ; East Asian People

Humans ; Female ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathology* ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine/pathology* ; Consensus ; Prognosis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Cervix Uteri/pathology*