Effects of Fractionated Radiation Exposure on Vimentin Expression in Cervical Cancers - Analysis of Association with Cancer Stem Cell Response and Short-Term Prognosis

Sep 24, 2026

This study evaluates how fractionated radiation affects vimentin expression in cervical cancer and how those changes relate to cancer stem cell (CSC) radiation response and short-term clinical outcome. Vimentin levels were measured in HeLa and SiHa cell lines and cervical scrapings from 46 patients before treatment and after irradiation at a total dose of 10 Gy using real-time PCR, flow cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy. CSC numbers were quantified by flow cytometry, and significant correlations were found between vimentin expression and postradiation CSC changes, with tendency-level links to unfavorable outcomes 3–6 months after therapy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

1.1 Background on cervical cancer therapy and resistance

1.2 Role of CSCs and EMT in response to radiation

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Cell lines and patient samples

2.2 Irradiation protocol and dosing

2.3 Measurement of vimentin expression

2.4 Assessment of CSC numbers

3. Results

3.1 Correlations between vimentin and CSC changes

3.2 Association with clinical outcome at 3–6 months

4. Discussion and Conclusions

Article Effects of Fractionated Radiation Exposure on Vimentin Expression in Cervical Cancers: Analysis of Association with Cancer Stem Cell Response and Short-Term Prognosis Irina Zamulaeva 1, *, Olga Matchuk 1, Elena Selivanova 1, Liana Mkrtchian 2, Anna Yakimova 1, Victoria Gusarova 1, Nikita Lipunov 1, Liudmila Krikunova 2, Sergey Ivanov 3,4 and Andrey Kaprin 4,5 Citation: Zamulaeva, I.; Matchuk, O.; Selivanova, E.; Mkrtchian, L.; Yakimova, A.; Gusarova, V.; Lipunov, N.; Krikunova, L.; Ivanov, S.; Kaprin, A. Effects of Fractionated Radiation Exposure on Vimentin Expression in Cervical Cancers: Analysis of Association with Cancer Stem Cell Response and Short-Term Prognosis. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 3271 . [https://doi.org/10.3390/](https://doi.org/10.3390/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.3390/)ijms24043271 Academic Editors: Andreyan N. Osipov and Melpo Christoﬁdou-Solomidou Received: 28 November 2022 Revised: 1 February 2023 Accepted: 3 February 2023 Published: 7 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Department of Radiation Biochemistry, A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Center—Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Korolev Str.-4, Obninsk 249036, Russia 2 Department of Radiation and Combined Treatment of Gynecological Diseases, A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Center—Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Korolev Str.-4, Obninsk 249036, Russia 3 A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Center—Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Korolev Str.-4, Obninsk 249036, Russia 4 Department of Urology and Operative Nephrology, RUDN University, Miklukho-Maklaya Str.-6, Moscow 117198, Russia 5 National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Korolev Str.-4, Obninsk 249036, Russia * Correspondence: [zamulaeva@mail.ru](zamulaeva@mail.ru) Abstract: Elucidation of the mechanisms for the response of cancer stem cells (CSCs) to radiation exposure is of considerable interest for further improvement of radio-and chemoradiotherapy of cervical cancer (CC) . The aim of this work is to evaluate the effects of fractionated radiation exposure on the expression of vimentin, which is one of the end-stage markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and analyze its association with CSC radiation response and short-term prognosis of CC patients. The level of vimentin expression was determined in HeLa, SiHa cell lines, and scrapings from the cervix of 46 CC patients before treatment and after irradiation at a total dose of 10 Gy using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, ﬂow cytometry, and ﬂuorescence microscopy. The number of CSCs was assessed using ﬂow cytometry. Signiﬁcant correlations were shown between vimentin expression and postradiation changes in CSC numbers in both cell lines (R = 0.88, p = 0.04 for HeLa and R = 0.91, p = 0.01 for SiHa) and cervical scrapings (R = 0.45, p = 0.008) . Associations were found at the level of tendency between postradiation increase in vimentin expression and unfavorable clinical outcome 3–6 months after treatment. The results clarify some of the relationships between EMT, CSCs, and therapeutic resistance that are needed to develop new strategies for cancer treatment. Keywords: cancer stem cells; cervical cancer; HeLa; SiHa; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; vimentin; ionizing radiation; radiosensitivity; ﬂow cytometry 1. Introduction Radio-and chemoradioth

FAQs

What was the main goal of the study?

To assess the effects of fractionated radiation exposure on vimentin expression and to analyze its association with CSC radiation response and the short-term prognosis of cervical cancer patients.

How were vimentin expression and CSC numbers measured?

Vimentin expression was determined using real-time PCR, flow cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy in cell lines and patient scrapings. CSC numbers were assessed using flow cytometry.

What relationship did the study find between vimentin expression and CSC response after irradiation?

Significant correlations were observed between vimentin expression and postradiation changes in CSC numbers in both HeLa and SiHa cell lines and in cervical scrapings from patients.

Sep 24, 2026

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