Overexpression of HPV16 E6/E7 mediated HIF-1α upregulation of GLUT1 expression in lung cancer cells

High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may play an important role in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) development. However, some recent studies have proved that it was not directly associated with lung cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the underlying molecular mechanism that HPV16 regulate the expression of GLUT1 and may promote the development of lung cancer. HPV16, HIF-1 alpha, and GLUT1 were detected in pleural effusions of patients with lung cancer (n = 95) and with benign lung disease (n = 55) by immunocytochemistry. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were used to detect the expression chances of HPV16 E6/E7, HIF-1 alpha, and GLUT1 in lung cancer cells. HPV16, HIF-1 alpha, and GLUT1 were significantly more likely to be expressed in the malignant group than in the benign group as detected by immunocytochemistry (ICC), and HIF-1 alpha was significantly correlated with HPV16 or GLUT1 in the malignant group (P < 0.01). Expression changes of E6 and E7 significantly promoted the protein expression of HIF-1 alpha, the expression of both protein and mRNA of GLUT1, but had no effect on the expression of HIF-1 alpha mRNA in lung cancer cells. After inhibition of HIF-1 alpha, it obviously downregulated the expression of both protein and mRNA of GLUT1 in lung cancer cells. E6 and E7 regulated the expression of GLUT1 may be due to the mediation of HIF-1 alpha in lung cancer cells. These results suggest that both E6 and E7 play the important role in the regulation of Warburg effect and may be a valuable therapeutic target for HPV-related cancer.