MUC1 elevation promote the progress of cervical squamous cell carcinoma through ERK phosphorylation and ITGA2/ITGA3
In contrast to the decreasing trends in developed countries, the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in China have increased significantly. Screening and identification of reliable biomarkers and candidate drug targets of cervical cancer are urgent to improve the survival rate and quality of life of patients. In this study, we demonstrated that MUC1 displayed elevation in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). The expression of MUC1 was higher in neoplastic compared with non-neoplastic tissues of the cervix, indicated its potential in early diagnosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Next, we explored the regulatory mechanism of MUC1 in CSCC. MUC1 overexpression promoted the proliferation and metastasis abilities of cervical cancer cells. MUC1 could regulate ERK phosphorylation, then upregulated ITGA2 and ITGA3 expression. Further knockdown of ITGA2 and ITGA3 significantly inhibited tumorigenesis of cervical cancer cells. Moreover, we designed a combination drug regimen with MUC1-siRNA and ERK inhibitor in vivo, founding that the combination of drugs achieved better results in animals with xenograft compared with targeting MUC1 alone. Taken together, we discovered a novel regulatory MUC1/ERK/ITGA2/3 pathway in cervical cancer that may serve as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in the future. Overall design: Small interfering RNA were used to knockdown MUC1 expression and compared the changes in RNA levels between the MUC1 knockout group and the control group by RNA-seq