HTR7 and its N6-methyladenosine modification: a potential target in cell cycle regulation of cervical cancer

Abstract

Pain is highly prevalent among cancer patients. Epidemiological reports indicate that about 30%–50% of cancer patients have varying levels of pain, and about 75–95%of advanced cancer patients have chronic pain. Analgesic is the first-class choice of treatment in the final stage of cervical cancer (CC) therapeutic schedule. Early reports indicated that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) had improved pain management in cancer, while recent reports indicate that the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 7 (HTR7), is closely related to the occurrence and prognosis of various solid tumors. However, few articles have clarified the co-relationship between the 5-HT receptor and CC. Based on RNA-seq re-analysis, we found that HTR7 was increased in CC compared with adjacent tissues. Interestingly, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and Kyoto encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (GSEA-KEGG) results indicated that HTR7 could regulate CC cell cycle pathway, suggesting HTR7 as a target oncogene. Further, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) site analysis results showed that HTR7 had many m6A enzyme binding positions and YTH domain family 2 (YTHDF2), an m6A reader, was positively correlated with HTR7 in CC. Altogether, this study showed that HTR7 was elevated in human CC, affected its cell cycle, contributed to tumor procession and was regulated by the m6A enzyme, demonstrating the important mechanisms of epigenetic alteration in CC.