Transcriptional Scenario of Altered Glycosylation in HPV-Associated Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is one of the leading malignancies in women in India, with a high mortality rate and no available targeted therapy. This is due to a dearth of understanding of the underlying mechanisms regulating cervical carcinogenesis and the distinguished behavioral patterns of HPV-associated carcinomas. This study aims to understand the associations of HPV infection and cervical cancer with aberrant glycosylation, which is an enabling factor for other hallmarks of cancer. DNA and RNA were isolated from biopsy samples of 92 CC patients. HPV 16 and 18 infection was detected by endpoint type-specific PCR. The RNA samples were processed for expression analysis of the HPV 16-E6, HPV 16-E7 and HPV 16-E2 oncogenes. Analysis of the expression of glycosylated transcripts was performed via qPCR. HPV infection was correlated with the transcript levels of ST3GAL3, ST6GAL1, FUT5 and FUT8. In HPV 16- and 18-positive patients, the transcript levels of ST3GAL3, ST6GAL1 and FUT5 were increased, whereas FUT8 transcript levels were decreased. These data depict hyperglycosylation patterns associated with HPV infection. HPV-associated cancers show downregulation of core fucosylation and upregulation of ST3GAL3, ST6GAL1 and FUT5. The behavioral pattern of HPV-associated cancer could be due to its differential association with altered glycosylation.