The SUMO conjugating enzyme UBC9 as a biomarker for cervical HPV infections

Domenico Mattoscio; Chiara Casadio; Marzia Fumagalli; Mario Sideri; Susanna Chiocca

doi:10.3332/ecancer.2015.534

The SUMO conjugating enzyme UBC9 as a biomarker for cervical HPV infections

Ecancermedicalscience. 2015 Apr 29:9:534. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2015.534. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Domenico Mattoscio¹, Chiara Casadio², Marzia Fumagalli³, Mario Sideri⁴, Susanna Chiocca⁵

Affiliations

¹ European Institute of Oncology, Department of Experimental Oncology, Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy ; Equally contributed to this work.
² European Institute of Oncology, Department of Pathology, 20141 Milan, Italy ; Equally contributed to this work.
³ TTFactor Srl, Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy.
⁴ European Institute of Oncology, Division of Gynecology, 20141 Milan, Italy.
⁵ European Institute of Oncology, Department of Experimental Oncology, Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) infect stratified epithelium and are the causative agents of cervical cancer, the second most common cause of cancer-related death in women. A critical aspect that still persists in the HPV field is the selection of very sensitive and specific HPV diagnostic assays. Here, we provide evidence that the crucial small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E2-conjugating enzyme Ubc9 is strongly upregulated in cervical lesions. Ubc9 detection could thus be used in diagnosing and/or monitoring the progression of an HPV oncogenic infection.

Keywords: HPV; HSIL; LSIL; SUMO; Ubc9; biomarker; cervical cancer.