TRAF4 has potential interaction with E7 oncogene in HPV+ Cervical Cancer Cells

HPV16 is the most common high-risk HPV type that causes cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. E7, an HPV+ oncogene, is a large player in the development of CVCa, but not much is known about its specific mechanism. TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) Receptor Associated Factor 4 (TRAF4) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is heavily implicated in metastatic prostate cancer and is involved in cell differentiation and apoptosis. In this project, we investigate the role of TRAF4 in CVCa and whether it interacts with E7. To accomplish this, we used HPV+ (Siha) and HPV- (C33A and Caski) CVCa cell lines to study the mechanism of TRAF4 and its interaction with CDC-125, a drug known to inhibit the activity of TRAF4. Through a series of cell counting assays, we observed an overall decrease in cell proliferation in all three cell lines. From this, we seek to explore whether TRAF4ï¾’s activity was specifically related to HPV+ or HPV- CVCa. To do this, we will conduct co-immuno precipitation and western blots to study the interaction between TRAF4 and E7, which is only present in HPV+ CVCa. TRAF4 activity is also overexpressed in several other cancers as well. Thus, our findings may provide valuable insights to other scientists studying TRAF4 beyond the scope of our cervical cancer research. Uncovering the mechanism of TRAF4 may help us understand how it causes the proliferation of cancer cells, which is paramount to the development of new and more effective therapies.