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Cancer Cell International
Published in: Cancer Cell International 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Cervical Cancer | Primary research

Analysis of therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers of CXC chemokines in cervical cancer microenvironment

Authors: Weina Kong, Gang Zhao, Haixia Chen, Weina Wang, Xiaoqian Shang, Qiannan Sun, Fan Guo, Xiumin Ma

Published in: Cancer Cell International | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

The tumor microenvironment (TME) has received an increasing amount of attention. CXC chemokines can regulate immune cell transport and tumor cell activity to exert anti-tumor immunity. However, studies on the expression and prognosis of CXC chemokines in cervical cancer (CC) are more limited.

Methods

The study investigated the role of CXC chemokines in TME of CC by using public databases. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) of CXC chemokines were performed to further verify.

Results

The transcriptional levels of CXCL1/3/5/6/8/9/10/11/13/16/17 in CC tissues were significantly elevated while the transcriptional levels of CXCL12/14 were significantly reduced. We reached a consistent conclusion that the expression of CXCL9/10/11/13 was verified by quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Moreover, CC patients with low transcriptional levels of CXCL1/2/3/4/5/8 were significantly associated with longer overall survival (OS). The CCL family was related to CXC chemokines neighboring alteration. RELA, NFKB1, LCK and PAK2 were the key transcription factors and kinase targets of CXC chemokines, respectively. We also found there were significant correlations between the expression of CXCL9/10/11 and the infiltration of immune cells (CD8+ T cell, CD4+ T cell, neutrophils and dendritic cells).

Conclusions

In brief, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of CXC chemokines via clinical data and some online public databases. Our results may provide a new idea for the selection of immunotherapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for cervical cancer.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Analysis of therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers of CXC chemokines in cervical cancer microenvironment
Authors
Weina Kong
Gang Zhao
Haixia Chen
Weina Wang
Xiaoqian Shang
Qiannan Sun
Fan Guo
Xiumin Ma
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Cancer Cell International / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1475-2867
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-021-02101-9

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