ERG the modulates Warburg effect and tumor progression in cervical cancer

Abstract

Altered aerobic glycolysis is an important feature of cancer cell energy metabolism, known as the Warburg effect. Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death in females. However, the roles of aerobic glycolysis in the development of cervical cancer are still poorly defined. Here, we identified a transcription factor (TF), ETS-related gene (ERG), as a new regulator of cancer progression and the glycolysis process in cervical cancer. In this study, we found that ectopic expression of ERG enhanced the capacity of aerobic glycolysis and increased glucose uptake, lactate production, and ATP generation. ERG overexpression increased and ERG knockdown decreased the anchorage independent cell growth and cell invasion in cervical cancer cells. Mechanistically, we propose that ERG regulates the expression of hexokinase 2 (HK2) and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) in the glycolytic pathway by directly binding to their promoters. A gain-of-function study showed that the knockdown or overexpression of HK2 and PGK1 abolished the increased or decreased aerobic glycolysis and cervical cancer progression induced by stable ectopic expression or depletion of ERG, respectively. Taken together, our findings suggest that ERG plays a potential role in the progression of cervical cancer, and could serve as a novel biomarker and potential therapeutic target in cervical cancer.