Examination of the functions and mechanism of KCP in mediating paclitaxel resistance in cervical squamous carcinoma cells

Yue He; Jian-Qing Xu; Jing-Jing Zhang; Zhen-You Liu; Chen Ji; Yang Liu; Yun-Fan Wang; Ming Wang; Yu-Mei Wu; Yan Wang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2025.1550032

Examination of the functions and mechanism of KCP in mediating paclitaxel resistance in cervical squamous carcinoma cells

Front Oncol. 2025 Apr 14:15:1550032. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1550032. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Yue He¹, Jian-Qing Xu¹, Jing-Jing Zhang¹, Zhen-You Liu¹, Chen Ji¹, Yang Liu¹, Yun-Fan Wang¹, Ming Wang¹, Yu-Mei Wu¹, Yan Wang¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Gynecological Oncology, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

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.

Conclusion: 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; cervical squamous cell carcinoma; functions; mechanism; paclitaxel resistance.