Relationship between methylation of SOX11 gene and cervical cancer / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To detect the methylation status of SOX11 gene in normal cervix, cervical cancer tissues and cervical cancer cell lines so as to explore the relationship between methylation status and expression of SOX11 gene. Methods: DNA methylation status of SOX11 gene in normal cervical, cervical cancer tissues and cervical cancer cell lines was analyzed by bisulfite sequencing and TA cloning assay. The expression of SOX11 mRNA in cervical cancer tissues, cell lines and normal cervical was detected by RT-PCR. Results: The average methylation rate of SOX11 in cervical cancer tissues (81.07%) was significantly higher than that in normal cervical tissues (12.86%) (P<0.001). The methylation status of SOX11 in HeLa, SiHa, C33-A and CaSki cells was all hypermethylated with the methylation of 90.71%, 97.14%, 77.14% and 99.64%, respectively. The expression of SOX11 mRNA in cervical cancer tissues was significantly lower than that in normal cervixes (P<0.001). The SOX11 gene expression was significantly negatively correlated with its promoter hypermethylation (P<0.001, r=-0.808). After demethylation agent 5-azacytidine treatment, SOX11 mRNA expression in cervical cancer cell lines was significantly increased. Further analysis showed that HPV infection in cervical cancer might increase SOX11 promotor methylation. Conclusion: SOX11 gene in cervical cancer is silenced by the hypermethylation of DNA in the promoter region.