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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1550032
Examination of the Functions and Mechanism of KCP in Mediating Paclitaxel Resistance in Cervical Squamous Carcinoma Cells
Provisionally accepted
Yue He Jian-Qing Xu Jing-Jing Zhang Zhen-You Liu Chen Ji Yang Liu Yun-Fan Wang 
Ming Wang 
Yumei Wu *
Yan Wang *- Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Objective: To evaluate the mechanism of Kielin/chordin-like protein (KCP) in the resistance of cervical cancer cells to paclitaxel.Method:A cervical squamous carcinoma cell line (SiHa) with KCP knockout was constructed and treated with paclitaxel. Key cell functions were assessed by colony formation assay, measurement of cell proliferation by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and FACS-based detection of apoptosis. The downstream mechanism of KCP-mediated resistance to paclitaxel was then examined using human gene chip detection and IPA bioinformatics analysis, and qPCR analysis was used to validate its downstream genes.Results: ①Functional studies of SiHa cells showed that KCP knockout (sgRNA) inhibited colony formation and proliferation of SiHa cells in the presence of paclitaxel (p<0.05). ②Using a whole human genome microarray, a total of 491 differentially expressed genes were identified in KCP knockout versus the NC SiHa cells. IPA-based bioinformatics analysis of upstream regulators showed that SPI1 was strongly activated and that SPI1 inhibited CCND1 and activated Pml and CEBPA, which is consistent with results from gene chip analysis showing CCND1, Pml, and CEBPA expression after KCP knockout. ③A total of 30 differentially expressed genes associated with tumor cell proliferation were identified by gene microarray and IPA analyses. The changes in the aforementioned genes after KCP knockout were verified by qPCR, and SERPINB3 and CEBPA expression were significantly lower and higher, respectively, compared to in the control group.KCP increased resistance of cervical cancer to paclitaxel by enhancing cell proliferation and colony formation. We observed that KCP could act positively on the downstream gene SERPINB3 and negatively on the downstream gene CEBPA to affect the resistance of cervical carcinoma cells to paclitaxel.
Keywords: Kielin/chordin-like protein, paclitaxel resistance, Cervical squamous cell carcinoma, Mechanism, Functions
Received: 31 Dec 2024; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Xu, Zhang, Liu, Ji, Liu, Wang, Wang, Wu and Wang. 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:
Yumei Wu, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Yan Wang, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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