B7-H3 promotes the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of cervical cancer cells and is an indicator of poor prognosis.

Abstract

B7-H3 is an immune regulatory molecule whose aberrant expression in tumors is associated with adverse outcomes. Upregulation of B7-H3 may promote tumor cell proliferation and metastasis invitro, but the role of B7-H3 in cervical cancer has not yet been investigated. We measured B7-H3 expression in 90cervical cancer patient and 20non‑cervical lesion patient tissues using immunohistochemistry and in 30cervical cancer patient and 30healthy donor blood samples using ELISA. The association of B7-H3 expression and the prognosis of cervical cancer patients was investigated. B7-H3 knockdown in CaSki and SiHa cell lines was performed using small hairpin (sh)RNA lentiviral transfection and B7-H3 overexpression in CaSki and HeLa cell lines was performed using plasmid-vector lentivirus transduction. Cell proliferation, invasion and migration were then measured using MTT and Transwell assays invitro. B7-H3 expression was significantly higher in the cervical cancer tissues compared to that noted in the normal cervical tissues (mean 72.22 vs.15.00%; p<0.001). Using Kaplan‑Meier and Cox analyses, our data revealed that patients with strong intensity staining were significantly more likely to have a worse prognosis. The B7-H3 level in cervical cancer patient blood was significantly higher than that in the normal donors (13.41±6.12 vs. 9.90±3.16ng/ml; p=0.007). MTT assay revealed that high expression of B7-H3 promoted cervical cancer cell proliferation. Transwell assay data revealed that high expression of B7-H3 enhanced cervical cancer cell migration and invasion (CaSki,p=0.003; HeLa,p=0.03). In conclusion, expression of B7-H3 was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues compared to normal cervical tissues, and this high expression was associated with worse prognosis for cervical cancer patients. In addition, B7-H3 promoted proliferation, invasion and migration of cervical cancer and may be a potential target for treating cervical cancer.