ANABOLIC FAILURE, NOT CATABOLIC ACTIVATION, UNDERLIES GLYCOGEN DEPLETION IN CERVICAL CARCINOGENESIS: A MULTI-COHORT TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSIS

Glycogen depletion across cervical carcinogenesis is linked to failing glycogen synthesis and squamous differentiation, with GYS2 and PPP1R3C reduced while degradation and glycolysis remain at baseline.

• Why it matters: The metabolic mechanism behind glycogen loss in cervical disease grade is unclear, despite its long use in iodine-based visual screening, leaving catabolic explanations insufficiently tested.
• What they did: The study analyzed 238 specimens from four cohorts (laser-capture epithelium, bulk tissue, and exfoliated cytology) using a prespecified 33-gene panel and single-sample gene set enrichment, with differential expression (limma) and pathway enrichment (fgsea).
• The result: Degradation and glycolysis did not shift with grade (p 0.45 to 0.62), while synthesis and differentiation fell; the synthesis axis separated at CIN2 and differentiation at CIN3, excluding catabolic activation at transcript level.

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