Role of PGRMC1 in cell physiology of cervical cancer

Aims: The most frequent cancers among women worldwide. The mortality of cervical cancer has declined significantly primarily due to the widespread use of Pap smear tests as a screening test and therapeutic vaccination. However, cervical cancer still remains a severe disease among the female population, as the prognosis of metastatic cervical cancer is very poor. Key methods: In this study, we performed 2D-DIGE and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS to analyze differentially expressed proteins between HeLa and invasive HeLa-I5 cells.. Key findings: According to our proteomics data, 68 differentially expressed proteins between the HeLa and HeLa-I5 cells were identified. One of these differentially expressed proteins, Progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1), was selected as a candidate for further studies. To correlate the role of PGRMC1 with cellular migration and cancer progression, small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to knockdown the expression of PGRMC1. Similar function of PGRMC1 was also observed in two other cervical cancer lines, CaSki and ME180. Significance: PGRMC1 plays an essential role in regulating cancer progression and metastasis of cervical cancer cells, thus serving as a potential therapeutic target for cervical cancer.