Gene Expression Analysis in Cervical Cancer Progression: Towards Unveiling Alterations from Normal to Tumoral Tissue

Cervical cancer is a high mortality malignant neoplasia and human papillomavirus is the main risk factor. Persistent infection can lead to cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CINs) that gradually progress into cancer. The present study aimed to analyze the gene expression profiles throughout cervical carcinogenesis. The microarray datasets GSE63514 and GSE7803 were extracted from Gene Expression Omnibus. A total of 19 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in cervical cancer progression were found, of which one is upregulated (CDKN2A) and 18 downregulated (CRCT1, CRISP3, CRNN, SG1, ESR1, FCGBP, HOPX, IVL, KRT1, KRT4, KRT13, MAL, PPP1R3C, SPINK5, SPRR1A, SPRR3, TCN1 and UPK1A). Closer histological stages, e.g. normal cervix and CIN1, showed a more similar expression profile when compared to distant categories along progression. The genes CDKN2A, ESR1, DSG1 and SPRR1A proved essential to the protein-protein interaction network network integrity. Out of the DEGs, SPRR3, KRT1, IVL and SPRR1A established connections between themselves and were attributed the same biological processes in functional enrichment. This study provides a panel of genes involved in cervical cancer progression, which hold high potential as biomarkers for clinical practice.