虽然高危人乳头瘤病毒 (HPV) 类型的感染对于宫颈癌 (CC) 的发展是必要的，但这还不够，还需要其他危险因素。多项研究报告了 HERV-K 在不同癌症中的激活情况；然而，对 CC 中 HERV-K 表达水平的研究很少。在这项研究中，假设 HERV-K 的激活可能在 CC 的发展中发挥重要作用。按此顺序，使用定量实时 PCR 在 147 个正常 CC 宫颈组织中研究了 HERV-K Env、Np9 和 Rec 转录本的表达水平。与正常/CIN I 组相比，宫颈上皮内瘤变 (CIN) II-III 组和 CC 组患者的 HERV-K Env 和 Np9 转录物水平显着升高。 Rec 转录物的表达也仅在 CC 组中高于正常/CIN I 组。在 CC 患者中，鳞状细胞癌患者的 HERV-K Env 和 Np9 转录物水平显着高于腺癌患者。当仅调查HPV 16阳性样本时，发现癌前病变和癌症组中Env和Np9 mRNA水平的平均差异显着高于正常组。然而，Rec mRNA 水平没有显示出显着差异。研究HERV-K基因表达之间的关联性，仅在癌前病变组中发现Env表达与Np9转录物呈显着正相关（R = 0.6，p = 0.0037）。此外，在正常宫颈组织的患者中，Rec 和 Np9 转录本之间发现显着正相关（R = 0.26，p = 0.033）。然而，三组中 Env 和 Rec 的表达之间没有观察到相关性。总之，我们的结果表明，HERV-K 转录本，尤其是 Env 和 Np9，在宫颈病变进展过程中上调。这些发现强调了 HERV-K Env 和 Np9 作为 CC 诊断和预后生物标志物的潜在用途。需要进一步研究来确定这些标记物的临床效用以及针对 HERV-K 癌基因是否可以成为 CC 的可行治疗策略。© 2024 Wiley periodicals LLC。

While infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types is necessary for cervical cancer (CC) development, it is not enough, and other risk factors are required. Several studies have reported the activation of HERV-K in different cancers; however, the investigation of HERV-K expression levels in CC is scarce. In this study, it was hypothesized that activation of HERV-K could play an essential role in CC development. In this order, the expression levels of HERV-K Env, Np9, and Rec transcripts were investigated on 147 normal to CC uterine cervical tissues using quantitative real-time PCR. The significantly higher levels of HERV-K Env and Np9 transcripts were found in patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II-III and CC groups compared to those in the normal/CIN I group. Expression of Rec transcript was also higher only in the CC group than normal/CIN I group. Among CC patients, meaningfully higher levels of HERV-K Env and Np9 transcripts were found in patients with squamous cell carcinoma rather than in adenocarcinoma. When only the HPV 16 positive samples were investigated, it was found that the mean difference in Env and Np9 mRNA levels was meaningfully higher among precancer lesions and the cancer group in comparison with the normal group. However, the Rec mRNA level showed no significant differences. The association between the expression of HERV-K genes was investigated, and a significant positive correlation of Env expression with Np9 transcript was found only in the group with precancer lesions (R = 0.6, p = 0.0037). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between Rec and Np9 transcripts in patients with normal cervix tissues (R = 0.26, p = 0.033). However, no correlations were observed between the expression of Env and Rec in the three groups. In conclusion, our results showed that HERV-K transcripts, especially Env and Np9, upregulated during cervical lesion progression. These findings highlight the potential use of HERV-K Env and Np9 as biomarkers for CC diagnosis and prognosis. Further investigation is needed to determine the clinical utility of these markers and whether targeting HERV-K oncogenes could be a viable therapeutic strategy for CC.© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.