HPV-Induced MiR-21 Promotes Epithelial Mesenchymal Transformation and Tumor Progression in Cervical Cancer Cells through the TGFβ R2/hTERC Pathway

Abstract

Cervical cancer (CC) is a common malignant tumor in women. It ranks first among the malignant tumors of woman reproductive organs and is one of the most important cancers in the world. Current studies suggest that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, especially high-risk persistent infection, is the basic cause of cervical precancerous lesions and cervical cancer. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) plays a role similar to oncogenes in the occurrence and growth of malignant tumors and can be developed as a potential target for treating malignant tumors. Recently, the study of the mechanism of malignant invasion and metastasis has made great progress. The current consensus is that the invasion and metastasis of malignant tumors is a complicated biological process with multistep and multigene control; the process of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) may be the initial event of invasion and metastasis of epithelial malignant tumors. EMT means that epithelial cells obtain the characteristics of mesenchymal cells, which has main characteristics such as the loss of epithelial cell characteristics and the achievement of mesenchymal cell features, and then induce epithelial cells to acquire the ability of migration and invasion, and participate in many physiological and pathological processes of human body, including embryogenesis, organ differentiation, tissue inflammation, and wound healing. Research has proved that miR-21 is associated with the invasion and metastasis of cervical cancer, and its specific mechanism has not been completely clear; EMT exerts a significant effect on the invasion and metastasis of epithelial malignant tumors; we speculate whether miR-21 regulates the EMT process of cervical cancer cells. ELISA and RT-PCR studied HPV-induced cervical cancer cells, and it was found that HPV may induce miR-21 to pass through the TGF β R2/hTERC pathway which promotes epithelial stromal transformation and tumor progression of cervical cancer cells.