Proteolytic Profile Modulation in Patients with Cervical High Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion and in Cervical Carcinoma Cell Line.

Abstract

Cervical carcinoma has been treated, nowadays, as a public health issue because of its high incidence and mortality rates in Brazil and around the world. In most cases, these carcinomas are caused due to the integration of human virus papilloma (HPV) oncogenes into the DNA of cervical epithelial cells, which leads them into a gradual malignant transformation to carcinoma. Among other factors, deregulating of protease expression and depressed immune system may contribute to the evolution of this disease. Proteases are enzymes that digest other proteins, which in the setting of cancer, may contribute to tumor invasion and metastasis. Currently, it has been shown that many proteases are deregulated in cervical cancer. Matriptase, for example, is a transmembrane serine protease that cleaves pro-HGF into HGF, thus triggering carcinogenesis via PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway. Taken together, the major aim of this study is to analyze proteolytic profile modulation in patients bearing cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and in cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa). In turn, the results obtained here will help to define the proteolytic profile in patients bearing HPV-dependent premalignant lesions and in cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa). Moreover, we aim also to understand the association of the proteolytic profile with the prognosis of the cervical carcinoma. (AU)