ABSTRACT
Purpose: To explore the effect of DSG2 on the growth of cervical cancer cells and its possible regulatory mechanism. Methods: The expression levels and survival prognosis of DSG2 and ADAM17 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed by bioinformatics. CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay and Transwell assay were used to detect the effects of DSG2 on the proliferative activity, colony formation ability and migration ability of SiHa and Hela cells. The effect of DSG 2 on the level of ADAM17 transcription and translation was detected by qPCR and Western blot experiments. The interaction between DSG2 and c-MYC was detected by immunocoprecipitation. c-MYC inhibitors were used in HeLa cells overexpressing DSG2 to analyze the effects of DSG2 and c-MYC on proliferation, colony formation and migration of Hela cells, as well as the regulation of ADAM17 expression. Results: DSG2 was highly expressed in cervical squamous cell carcinoma compared with normal tissues (P<0.05), and high DSG2 expression suggested poor overall survival (P<0.05). After DSG2 knockdown, the proliferative activity, colony formation and migration ability of SiHa and Hela cells were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared with adjacent normal tissues, ADAM17 was highly expressed in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (P<0.05), and high ADAM17 expression suggested poor overall survival in cervical cancer patients (P<0.05). The results of immunocoprecipitation showed the interaction between DSG2 and c-MYC. Compared with DSG2 overexpression group, DSG2 overexpression combined with c-MYC inhibition group significantly decreased cell proliferation, migration and ADAM17 expression (P < 0.05). Conclusion: DSG2 is highly expressed in cervical cancer, and inhibition of DSG2 expression can reduce the proliferation and migration ability of cervical cancer cells, which may be related to the regulation of ADAM17 expression through c-MYC interaction.
