Inactivation of PTCH1 is associated with the development of cervical carcinoma: clinical and prognostic implication

The aim of this study was to analyze the alterations of PTCH1 (deletion/promoter methylation/mutation/expression) during the development of cervical cancer (CACX). For this purpose, deletion/methylation of PTCH1 were analyzed in HPV16 positive exfoliated asymptomatic cervical swabs (n = 74), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) (n = 32), CACX (n = 174) samples, and two CACX cell lines. The deletion of PTCH1 increased significantly from CIN (11.5 %) to stage I/II (42 %) and comparable in stage III/IV (46 %). Low frequency (14-16 %) of PTCH1 methylation was seen in the asymptomatic exfoliated cervical cells and in the normal epithelium adjacent to the tumor followed by a significant increase in CIN (31 %) to stage I/II (57 %) and comparable in stage III/IV (58 %). The overall alterations (deletion/methylation) of PTCH1 significantly increased from CIN (34 %) to stage I/II (70 %) and comparable in stage III/IV (69 %). Interestingly, in the normal epithelium, methylation of PTCH1 was high in basal/parabasal layers (83 %), followed by decrease in the spinous layer (33 %), and showed significant inverse correlation with its expression. Reduced expression of PTCH1 seen in tumors showed a significant association with its alterations (deletion/methylation). The expression pattern of PTCH1 showed an inverse correlation with the nuclear expression of GLI1 in the normal epithelium as well as in the tumors. High nuclear expression of HPV16, E6, and E7 were seen in basal/parabasal layers of the normal epithelium and also in tumors. The PTCH1 alterations (deletion and/or methylation) in tumors and its methylation in adjacent normal epithelium were associated with poor prognosis of patients. Thus, our data suggests that activation of the Hedgehog pathway due to PTCH1 inactivation along with HPV infection is important in CACX development.