Cancer cells acquire unique secretome compositions that contribute to tumor development and metastasis. The aim of our study was to elucidate the biological processes involved in cervical cancer, by performing a proteomic analysis of the secretome from the following informative cervical cell lines: SiHa (HPV16+), HeLa (HPV18+), C33A (HPV−), and HCK1T (normal). Proteins were analyzed by 2D gel electrophoresis coupled to MALDI-TOF-MS. Enrichment of secreted proteins with characteristic profiles for each cell line was followed by the identification of differentially expressed proteins. Particularly, transforming growth factor-beta-induced protein ig-h3 (Beta ig-h3) and peroxiredoxin-2 (PRDX2) overexpression in the secretome of cancer cell lines was detected and confirmed by Western blot. Bioinformatics analysis identified the transcription factor NRF2 as a regulator of differentially expressed proteins in the cervical cancer secretome. NRF2 levels were measured by both Western blot and Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) in the total cell extract of the four cell lines. NRF2 was upregulated in SiHa and C33A compared to HCK1T. In conclusion, the secreted proteins identified in cervical cancer cell lines indicate that aberrant NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response (OSR) is a prominent feature of cervical carcinogenesis.

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Interleukin-33 (IL-33), a nuclear alarmin released during cell death, exerts context-specific effects on adaptive and innate immune cells eliciting potent inflammatory responses. We screened blood, skin and kidney tissues from patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease driven by unabated type I interferon (IFN) production, and found increased amounts of extracellular IL-33 complexed with Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), correlating with severe, active disease. Using a combination of molecular, imaging and proteomic approaches, we show that SLE neutrophils -activated by disease immunocomplexes-release IL-33-decorated NETs that stimulate robust IFNα synthesis by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in an IL-33-receptor (ST2L)dependent manner. IL33-silenced neutrophil-like cells cultured under lupus-inducing conditions generated NETs with diminished interferogenic effect. Importantly, SLE patient-derived NETs are enriched in mature bioactive isoforms of IL-33 processed by the neutrophil proteases elastase and cathepsin G. Pharmacological inhibition of these proteases neutralized IL-33-dependent IFNα production elicited by NETs. These data demonstrate a novel role for cleaved IL-33 alarmin decorating NETs in human SLE, linking neutrophil activation, type I IFN production and end-organ inflammation with skin pathology mirroring that observed in the kidneys.