The Impact of Cycling Hypoxia on the Phenotype of HPV-Positive Cervical Cancer Cells

Tumor hypoxia affects the aggressiveness and therapy response in solid tumors, including HPV-positive cancers. Cycling hypoxia, characterized by recurrent fluctuations in oxygen supply, is a prevalent, but much less investigated form of tumor hypoxia, and has been associated with a particularly therapy-resistant cancer cell subpopulation. Using mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteome analyses, we compare SiHa cells cultivated under normoxia (21% O2), physoxia (5.5% O2), chronic hypoxia (1% O2) and cycH (repeated cycles of 1 h at 1% O2 and 1 h at 5.5% O2) and assess distinct effects of cycH on the phenotype of HPV-positive cervical cancer cells.