TMEM45A Affects Proliferation, Apoptosis, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Migration, Invasion and Cisplatin Resistance of HPV-Positive Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

To investigate the effects of transmembrane protein 45A (TMEM45A) on biological characteristics and cisplatin (DDP) resistance of cervical cancer cells. TMEM45A in cervical cancer cells and normal cervical epithelial cells (HCerEpiC) were quantified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. HPV genotypes were identified by multiplex PCR. SiHa and HeLa cells were divided into Blank, shCTL, shTMEM45A-1, and shTMEM45A-2 groups, followed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), EdU, Annexin V-FITC/PI staining, Wound healing, and Transwell invasion assays, as well as qRT-PCR and Western blotting. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) was employed to evaluate the impact of TMEM45A shRNA on cisplatin-resistant cervical cancer cells (SiHa/DDP and HeLa/DDP). Compared with HcerEpic cell, cervical cancer cells exhibited the upregulation of TMEM45A expression, especially in HPV-positive cell lines (CaSki, SiHa, HeLa). TMEM45A shRNA suppressed the proliferation of SiHa and HeLa cells, arrested cells at the S phase, and promoted cell apoptosis. TMEM45A shRNA inhibited the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, migration of SiHa and HeLa cells, accompanying by the downregulated Vimentin and N-cadherin with the upregulated E-cadherin. Moreover, SiHa/DDP and HeLa/DDP had higher TMEM45A expression than their parental SiHa and HeLa cells, respectively. And inhibiting TMEM45A can reduce the IC50 of SiHa/DDP cells and HeLa/DDP cells to cisplatin. Silencing TMEM45A can inhibit cell proliferation, invasion, migration and EMT, regulate cell cycle distribution, promote cell apoptosis, and reverse cisplatin resistance of HPV-positive cervical cancer cells, highlighting that inhibition of TMEM45A may be a therapeutic strategy for HPV-positive cervical cancer.