Project description:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs.
Project description:Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer worldwide. Notably, women co-infected with HPV and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have a six-fold higher lifetime risk of developing cervical cancer compared to those without HIV, even when adhering to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and achieving T-cell reconstitution. While chronic HIV-1 infection is known to cause inflammation, how paracrine signals from immune cells alter signaling in cervical cells remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted global transcriptomics analysis on cervical swabs from Kenyan women with HPV, stratified by HIV-1 and cancer status. Strikingly, women with HIV-1 showed cancer-like gene expression patterns in non-cancerous cervical epithelial cells. Complementary global mass spectrometry (MS) proteomics of cervical cells exposed to the secretome of HIV-1–infected primary CD4+ T-cells revealed altered expression of proteins in MAPK, PI3K-AKT, and β-catenin signaling pathways. Integrative network analyses of transcriptomic and proteomic datasets revealed that HIV-1 altered gene expression in key pathways known to drive cervical cancer, including genes commonly mutated in HIV-1-naïve disease. Notably, IRS-1, a key PI3K-AKT pathway activator, was found to be consistently upregulated in both participant samples and cell culture models, as were interferon-stimulated genes. Phosphoproteomics MS analysis confirmed PI3K-AKT pathway activation in cervical cells exposed to conditioned media from HIV-1-infected T-cells. Together, our findings uncover how HIV-1 reshapes cervical cell signaling via paracrine mechanisms and highlights the PI3K pathway as a potential therapeutic target in HIV-associated cervical cancer.
Project description:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs. Two-condition experiment, KP MSCs vs. 3A6 MSCs.
Project description:The study examined the infection state of HPV in the Uyghur population with cervical cancer, followed by genotyping to determine the variation in the types of HPV. Using microRNA microarray technology, differential gene expression between HPV-infected cervical cancer and uninfected normal cervical tissues was determined. The microarray results were verified by qRT-PCR using 20 sets of HPV-infected cervical cancer and uninfected cervical tissues.
Project description:Co-infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in women have a six-fold higher risk of developing cervical cancer compared to those without HIV. To evaluate how paracrine signals from HIV-infected T-cells remodeled the proteome of cervical epithelial cells in culture, primary CD4+ T cells isolated from PBMC-enriched leukapheresis products (leukopaks) from two healthy donors were infected or uninfected with a replication-competent pNL4-3 HIV-1 strain for 72 hours. Secretome from the CD4+ T cell cultures was used to stimulate the human HPV-negative cervical epithelial cell line, C33A, for 72 hours. Then, C33A cells were harvested, and cell lysates were digested and subjected to global quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) based abundance proteomics and phosphoproteomics analyses. Both proteomics and phosphoproteomics outputs were analysed using bioinformatics approaches. These datasets revealed altered expression of proteins in the MAPK, PI3K-AKT, and β-catenin signaling pathways. Additionally, MS phosphoproteomics analysis confirmed PI3K-AKT pathway activation in cervical cells exposed to conditioned media from HIV-1-infected T cells.
Project description:Co-infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in women have a six-fold higher risk of developing cervical cancer compared to those without HIV. To evaluate how paracrine signals from HIV-infected T-cells remodeled the proteome of cervical epithelial cells in culture, primary CD4+ T cells isolated from PBMC-enriched leukapheresis products (leukopaks) from two healthy donors were infected or uninfected with a replication-competent pNL4-3 HIV-1 strain for 72 hours. Secretome from the CD4+ T cell cultures was used to stimulate the human HPV-negative cervical epithelial cell line, C33A, for 72 hours. Then, C33A cells were harvested, and cell lysates were digested and subjected to global quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) based abundance proteomics and phosphoproteomics analyses. Both proteomics and phosphoproteomics outputs were analysed using bioinformatics approaches. These datasets revealed altered expression of proteins in the MAPK, PI3K-AKT, and β-catenin signaling pathways. Additionally, MS phosphoproteomics analysis confirmed PI3K-AKT pathway activation in cervical cells exposed to conditioned media from HIV-1-infected T cells.
Project description:Identifying the differentially expressed miRNAs in Cervical cancer patients infected with only one virus i.e. either HIV or HPV-16 and patients infected with both viruses HIV and HPV-16 with respect to their controls which is the healthy population not infected by either HIV or any HPV The miRNA array was performed using the affymetrix GeneChip® miRNA 3.0 Array (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, California, United States). The chip was processed using a commercial Affymetrix array service (GeneTech Biotechnology Limited Company, Shanghai, China). The affymetrix GeneChip® miRNA 3.0 Array contains 2,999 probe sets unique to human, mouse and rat pre-miRNA hairpin sequences, 2,216 human snoRNA and scaRNA probe sets and covers 153 organisms (19,724 probe sets). Raw data sets were extracted from all Cel files (raw intensity file) after scanning of slides. These raw data sets were separately analyzed using Expression Console and GeneSpring GX12.5 software followed by differential miRNA expression, fold change & cluster analysis.
Project description:Cervical cancer (CC) remains a significant public health issue in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in Western sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria. While global CC incidence and mortality have declined, these regions continue to face high rates due to inadequate screening and the high prevalence of HIV, which increases CC risk by promoting persistent HPV infections. This study aimed to identify DNA methylation (DNAm) biomarkers for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and CC in HIV-positive Nigerian women and to assess their potential for clinical risk prediction. From 2018 to 2020, 538 participants were recruited from Nigerian tertiary hospitals. Cervical tissue samples were analyzed for DNAm using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array, and HPV genotyping was conducted via next-generation sequencing. An epigenome-wide association study revealed 24 significant DNAm biomarkers associated with CIN and CC. These biomarkers showed hypermethylation in tumor suppressor genes (e.g., PRMD8), hypomethylation in oncogenes (e.g., MIR520H), and aberrant methylation in genes related to HIV/HPV infection and oncogenesis (e.g., GNB5, LMO4, FOXK2, NMT1). A machine learning-based DNAm classifier achieved 92.9% sensitivity and 88.6% specificity in predicting CC risk, with higher risk observed in adjacent normal cervical samples from CIN/CC patients and HIV/HPV co-infected women. DNAm biomarkers offer a promising approach to enhancing CC screening and early detection, particularly for HIV-positive women in LMICs. The DNAm-based model developed in this study shows potential for more accurate CC risk stratification, highlighting the need for further optimization, validation, and implementation in low-resource settings.