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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Signaling
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1465729
This article is part of the Research Topic Antioxidants in Mitigating Oxidative Stress-Induced Damage View all articles

Interplay between Reactive Oxygen Species and ERK activation in Cervical Cancer cells

Provisionally accepted
Karen A. Larrauri Rodriguez Karen A. Larrauri Rodriguez 1,2Bertha A. Leon-Chavez Bertha A. Leon-Chavez 2Verónica Vallejo-Ruiz Verónica Vallejo-Ruiz 1Lourdes M. Peña Lourdes M. Peña 3Paola Maycotte Paola Maycotte 1*
  • 1 Centro de Investigacion Biomedica de Oriente, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Puebla, Mexico
  • 2 Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
  • 3 Centro de Química, Instituto de Ciencias, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Among the types of cancer affecting women, cervical cancer (CC) is a public health problem with high global incidence and mortality rates. It is currently classified into three main histological types: squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), adenocarcinoma (AC), and adenosquamous (ASC) carcinoma. All of them lacking a targeted therapy. The primary risk factor for CC is Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection, which is known to increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), contributing to malignant transformation and tumor progression. At basal levels, ROS can function as second messengers in signaling pathways, and elevated concentrations have been linked to their overactivation. One of these, the ERK pathway, is implicated in cell proliferation and differentiation and is often dysregulated in cancer, promoting malignant transformation. Several studies have proposed antioxidant supplementation or ERK inhibitors as potential therapies. Here we elucidate part of the complex interplay between ROS and ERK pathway in CC pro-tumorigenic characteristics. Through bioinformatic analysis, we found distinct ROS and ERK activation patterns across CC tumor samples from different histological types. However, in vitro, ROS regulated migration and viability in CC, with no discernible variance based on histological classification. ERK activation, however, differed according to the histological type with SCC displaying increased ERK activation compared to AC and regulating cellular migration in SCC cells. Importantly, our study identifies a potential synergistic interaction between ROS and ERK inhibitors, highlighting the therapeutic promise of combinatorial targeting for CC treatment. These findings underscore the importance of personalized approaches aimed at improving the outcomes of CC patients.

    Keywords: cervical cancer, Reactive Oxygen Species, ERK, MAPK, Cancer, Migration, Survival

    Received: 16 Jul 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Larrauri Rodriguez, Leon-Chavez, Vallejo-Ruiz, Peña and Maycotte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Paola Maycotte, Centro de Investigacion Biomedica de Oriente, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Puebla, Mexico

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.