| Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the causative agent of cervical cancer. The purpose of present study was to provide a comprehensive protein-protein interaction (PPI) approach to identify the representative sub-networks for this cancer. Comprehensive gene expression profiling of cervical samples from different stages were collected from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO-dataset: GSE67522). Among the three clinical stages, we generated two PPIs including, pre-cancerous network (normal-non-malignant) and cancerous network (non-malignant-CC or normal-CC). Subsequently, further bioinformatics analyses were performed. GO analysis revealed that the majority of differentially expressed genes in reconstructing cancerous networks was obviously involved in cell cycle processes. Serine/threonine kinases Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), and CDK2 were the most important hub genes in the protein-protein interaction network. These proteins play critical roles in the dysregulation of the cell cycle in cervical cancer development. Also, other cell cycle associated genes including AURKA, BRCA1, and CDC20 were all found highly critical genes in HPV16-infected cervical cancer. CDK1, CDK2 and PLK1 play essential roles in mediating integrative genetic networks involved in the development of cervical cancer. These hub genes might help improve pathogenesis of cervical cancer and may be used for the diagnosis and treatment of this cancer. |