Expression of p53, p21(CIP1/WAF1) and eIF4E in the adjacent tissues of oral squamous cell carcinoma: establishing the molecular boundary and a cancer progression model

A Prospective Study Between Molecular Marker P53 Analysis and HPE, for Tumour Positivity in Primary Resected Margins in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Head and neck malignancies are the seventeenth most common malignancies, worldwide and second most common malignancy in India. So current study aims to compare between molecular marker p53 analysis and HPE for tumour positivity in primary resected margins in head and neck SCC. 61 patients with head and neck SCC were included in this prospective observational cross-sectional study performed in tertiary care hospital. A detailed history general physical examination blood investigation was done before the surgery. After the surgery, primary lesion from the resected tumour was sent for HPE analysis. From the same specimen, the margins at distance of 0.5-1 cm from primary tumour were sent for p53 mutation analysis. Report of p-53 mutation was noted and entered to the Performa. In our study we found out that in PDSCC HPE negative margins were found positive for p53 mutation in 81% cases. Which suggest that evaluation for p53 mutation should be done in PDSCC cases for HPE negative margins with in 1 cm. In patients of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with free margins on HPE p-53 mutation is significantly associated to the PDSCC and margin upto 0.7 mm so recommended for p-53 profile can be beneficial in cases of the PDSCC and margins up to 0.7 mm for further management or for possibility of recurrence and its management to improve patients survival and decrease morbidity and mortality.

Evaluation of the Expression of miR-486-3p, miR-548-3p, miR-561-5p and miR-509-5p in Tumor Biopsies of Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background and objective: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common head and neck malignancy. Expression patterns of microRNAs (miRNAs) can direct us in identifying valuable biomarkers for the prognosis of different neoplasms. Inappropriate regulation of miRNAs during physiological procedures can result in malignancies including OSCC. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression of miR-486-3p, miR-561-5p, miR-548-3p, and miR-509-5p in tissue biopsy samples with and without OSCC. Materials and methods: This case-control study was conducted on 17 healthy and 17 OSCC tissue biopsy samples. The expression of miRNAs was assessed using quantitative real-time PCR (q-RT-PCR) after RNA extraction from normal and cancer tissues and cDNA synthesis. Results: The means of miRNA-486-3p, miR-561-5p, and miR-548-3p expression were significantly different between OSCC and control groups (p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference in means of miR-509-5p expression between OSCC and control groups (p = 0.179). Conclusions: The findings of this study revealed that the expression of miR-486-3p and miR-561-5p was significantly lower in cancer samples compared to normal tissue samples. On the other hand, miR-548-3p expression increased in the OSCC group compared to the control group.

Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of pigmented oral squamous cell carcinoma

Pigmented oral squamous cell carcinoma (POSCC) is a rare and underrecognized pathological variant of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The current study aimed to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment outcomes and prognosis of patients with POSCC and to investigate its oncological properties using immunohistochemical studies. A total of 1,512 patients were pathologically diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, and were treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University between January 2001 and December 2018. A total of 25 patients had POSCC and underwent radical surgery. Of these 25 patients, 23 presented with early T stage disease. Additionally, 22 patients were negative for cervical lymph nodes metastasis. Only one patient had local recurrence. The 5-year disease-free and disease-specific survival rates were 86.6 and 95.8%, respectively. Immunohistochemically, a high percentage of POSCC exhibited low p53 and Ki-67, preserved E-cadherin or negative vimentin expression. The results suggested that POSCC tends to exhibit non-aggressive oncological behavior and demonstrates a good prognosis.

Clinical Significance of Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4E (eIF4E) Level among Cases Suffering Basal Cell Carcinoma of Skin

BACKGROUND Eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) has been reported to act as a prognostic biomarker in various cancers, but its actual effect on basal cell cancer (BCC) of the skin is rarely reported. Our research measured eIF4E levels and discussed its consequence in BCC of the skin. MATERIAL AND METHODS Semi-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting analysis were used to detect relative expression level of eIF4E in specimens at both mRNA and protein levels. The relationship of eIF4E level with clinical profiles was analyzed via chi-square test. Additionally, prognostic value of eIF4E was analyzed via Kaplan-Meier and cox regression analysis. RESULTS We found that eIF4E was over-expressed in tumor tissues, in comparison to bordering cancer-free tissue samples. Besides, elevated eIF4E level exhibited a strong relation to metastasis, TNM stage, and differentiation. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed cases harboring high eIF4E levels faced shortened overall survival compared to cases of low levels (log rank test, P=0.018). Moreover, eIF4E could act as an independent biomarker for the prognosis of BCC of the skin, according to Cox regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS The level of eIF4E was upregulated and significantly correlated with the development of BCC of the skin. Thus, it might be a promising prognostic biomarker and therapy target for BCC of the skin.

Knockdown of IARS2 Inhibited Proliferation of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells by Regulating p53/p21/PCNA/eIF4E Pathway

IARS2 encodes mitochondrial isoleucine-tRNA synthetase, which mutation may cause multiple diseases. However, the biological function of IARS2 on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has not yet been identified. In the present study, qRT-PCR was used to determine the expression of IARS2 in K562, THP1, and HL-60 leukemia cells. Additionally the mRNA levels of IARS2 in CD34 cells and AML cells obtained from patients were detected by qRT-PCR. IARS2-shRNA lentiviral vector was established and used to infect acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells. qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis were employed to assess the knockdown effect of IARS2. The proliferation rate and cell cycle phase of HL-60 cells after IARS2 knockdown were evaluated by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. The PathScan Antibody Array was used to determine the expression of cell cycle-related proteins in HL-60 cells after IARS2 knockdown. The expression of proliferation-related proteins in HL-60 cells after IARS2 knockdown was determined by Western blot analysis. Results showed that IARS2 expression was stable and much higher in HL-60, THP-1, and K562 leukemia cells and AML cells obtained from patients than that of human CD34 cells. Compared with cells of the shCtrl group, IARS2 was markedly knocked down in cells that were transfected with lentivirus encoding shRNA of IARS2 in HL-60 cells (p < 0.05). IARS2 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation and induced cycle arrest at the G₁ phase in HL-60 cells. Additionally IARS2 knockdown significantly increased the expression of p53 and p21, and decreased the expression of PCNA and eIF4E in HL-60 cells. In conclusion, IARS2 knockdown can inhibit acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cell proliferation and cause cell cycle arrest at the G₁ phase by regulating the p53/p21/PCNA/eIF4E pathways.

AFF4 promotes tumorigenesis and tumor-initiation capacity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells by regulating SOX2

Super elongation complex (SEC) controls gene transcription by releasing Pol II from pausing. Previous studies have shown that dysfunction of SEC was associated with multiple human cancers, such as leukemia and breast cancer. However, the role of SEC in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) development remains largely unknown. In this study, we found expression of AF4/FMR2 family member 4 (AFF4), the core component of SEC, was upregulated dramatically in HNSCC cell lines and tumor tissues. By using siRNA-mediated depletion and overexpression of AFF4, we demonstrated AFF4 promoted proliferation, migration and invasion of HNSCC cells. Moreover, we found AFF4 enhanced the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity and sphere formatting activity and was required for the tumor-initiation capacity of stem-like cells in HNSCC cell lines. Mechanistically, we found the role of AFF4 in regulation of HNSCC cell behaviors was mainly mediated by sex-determining region Y box2 (SOX2), a critical regulator involved in development of several human cancers. SOX2 expression changed in parallel with AFF4 expression in response to depletion and overexpression of AFF4, respectively. More importantly, overexpression of SOX2 rescued the inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion and ALDH activity induced by knockdown of AFF4 in HNSCC cells, at least in part. Collectively, our findings indicate AFF4 may serve as a biomarker and a potential target of therapies for patients with HNSCC.

Multi-omic molecular profiling of lung cancer in COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a known risk factor for developing lung cancer but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We hypothesise that the COPD stroma contains molecular mechanisms supporting tumourigenesis.We conducted an unbiased multi-omic analysis to identify gene expression patterns that distinguish COPD stroma in patients with or without lung cancer. We obtained lung tissue from patients with COPD and lung cancer (tumour and adjacent non-malignant tissue) and those with COPD without lung cancer for profiling of proteomic and mRNA (both cytoplasmic and polyribosomal). We used the Joint and Individual Variation Explained (JIVE) method to integrate and analyse across the three datasets.JIVE identified eight latent patterns that robustly distinguished and separated the three groups of tissue samples (tumour, adjacent and control). Predictive variables that associated with the tumour, compared to adjacent stroma, were mainly represented in the transcriptomic data, whereas predictive variables associated with adjacent tissue, compared to controls, were represented at the translatomic level. Pathway analysis revealed extracellular matrix and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase-protein kinase B signalling pathways as important signals in the tumour adjacent stroma.The multi-omic approach distinguishes tumour adjacent stroma in lung cancer and reveals two stromal expression patterns associated with cancer.

Assessment of cellular and serum proteome from tongue squamous cell carcinoma patient lacking addictive proclivities for tobacco, betel nut, and alcohol: Case study

The intriguing molecular pathways involved in oral carcinogenesis are still ambiguous. The oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) ranks as the most common type constituting more than 90% of the globally diagnosed oral cancers cases. The elevation in the OSCC incidence rate during past 10 years has an alarming impression on human healthcare. The major challenges associated with OSCC include delayed diagnosis, high metastatic rates, and low 5-year survival rates. The present work foundations on reverse genetic strategy and involves the identification of genes showing expressional variability in an OSCC case lacking addictive proclivities for tobacco, betel nut, and/or alcohol, major etiologies. The expression modulations in the identified genes were analyzed in 16 patients comprising oral pre-cancer and cancer histo-pathologies. The genes SCCA1 and KRT1 were found to down regulate while DNAJC13, GIPC2, MRPL17, IG-Vreg, SSFA2, and UPF0415 upregulated in the oral pre-cancer and cancer pathologies, implicating the genes as crucial players in oral carcinogenesis.

Expression level of TBX3 gene in renal carcinoma and its clinical significance

The aim of the current study was to investigate and discuss the function of T-box 3 (TBX3) gene expression in the pathogenesis of renal carcinoma. The carcinoma, adjacent and normal renal tissues of 210 patients with renal carcinoma who presented to The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College from March, 2006 to March, 2012 were collected to extract total RNAs. The total RNAs were reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA), and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was applied to detect the expression of TBX3 gene in these tissues, followed by its association with the prognosis of renal carcinoma as well as clinical features. A comparison of the renal carcinoma tissues with the adjacent tissues showed that TBX3 gene was obviously highly expressed in renal carcinoma tissues (P<0.05). In addition, compared with normal renal tissues, TBX3 gene was obviously highly expressed in renal carcinoma tissues (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the expression levels of TBX3 gene in normal renal tissues and adjacent tissues (P=0.15). The expression of TBX3 gene in renal carcinoma tissues was not associated with patient age, sex and tumor size (P>0.05), but it was associated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the median survival time of patients in the positive TBX3 gene expression group (37.5 months) was shorter than that in the negative TBX3 gene expression group (66 months), and there was a statistical difference (P<0.05). The 3- and 5-year survival rates in the negative TBX3 gene expression group were 74 and 62%, respectively, and the 3- and 5-year survival rates in the positive TBX3 gene expression group were 52 and 32%, respectively, and the differences were significant (P<0.05). The results suggest that TBX3 gene is highly expressed in renal carcinoma tissues, and it is associated with TNM staging, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, which may be involved in the occurrence and metastasis of renal carcinoma.

Biomarker MicroRNAs for Diagnosis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Identified Based on Gene Expression Data and MicroRNA-mRNA Network Analysis

Oral squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most malignant tumors with high mortality rate worldwide. Biomarker discovery is critical for early diagnosis and precision treatment of this disease. MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNA molecules which often regulate essential biological processes and are good candidates for biomarkers. By integrative analysis of both the cancer-associated gene expression data and microRNA-mRNA network, miR-148b-3p, miR-629-3p, miR-27a-3p, and miR-142-3p were screened as novel diagnostic biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma based on their unique regulatory abilities in the network structure of the conditional microRNA-mRNA network and their important functions. These findings were confirmed by literature verification and functional enrichment analysis. Future experimental validation is expected for the further investigation of their molecular mechanisms.

Ki-67 protein predicts survival in oral squamous carcinoma cells: an immunohistochemical study

The aim of this study was to identify the expression of Ki-67 and MCM3 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as well as to address the correlation with patient survival and clinical features. Samples were collected from 51 patients with OSCC who presented for follow-up. Immunohistochemical expression of Ki-67 and MCM3 in all groups was performed. The scoring system was previous published by Tsurutani in 2005. We used Kappa index to evaluate observers agreement degree. The associations between protein expression and clinical variables were examined for statistical significance using the chi-squared test. The overall survival rates were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and the relationship between protein expression and survival was compared using the log-rank test (p < 0.05). The overall survival time for a patient with positive immunostaining for Ki-67 is shorter than for a patient with negative immunostaining, (log-rank test, p = 0.00882). Patients with tumor size T3 and T4 showed a statistically significant relationship with Ki-67 immunoexpression (log-rank test, p = 0.0174). The relationship between Ki-67 expression and the relation between age, gender, smoking, tumor site, lymph node metastasis and disease stage was not significant. The examiners agreement degree by Kappa presented p value < 0.05. There was not a significant correlation when we evaluated MCM3 expression regarding clinical characteristics and survival rate. From these results, the present study suggests that positive Ki-67 expression found in OSCC patients may contribute to predict the survival in OSCC samples, as well as the relation between the protein and the tumor size.

Phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6 correlation with p21 expression and inverse association with tumor size in oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6 (p-S6), a surrogate marker of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation, and p21 in a series of 125 patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs).

METHODS

Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to ascertain the phosphorylation status of p-S6 at Ser235/236 and Ser240/244, p21, and p53 protein expression.

RESULTS

Expression of phosphorylated S6 protein on either serine 235/236 or serine 240/244 was detected in 83% and 88% tumors, respectively, and both of them were inversely and significantly correlated with the tumor size and local infiltration. Positive p21 expression was found in 91.5% of the cases, and was inversely correlated with tumor size. In OSCC, p21 expression correlates with p-S6 levels, a surrogate marker of mTOR activation, independently of p53 status.

CONCLUSION

Expression of both p21 and p-S6 was found to inversely associate with tumor size but not survival outcomes in patients with OSCC.

Genome-wide DNA methylation profile identified a unique set of differentially methylated immune genes in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients in India

Background

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the common malignancies in Southeast Asia. Epigenetic changes, mainly the altered DNA methylation, have been implicated in many cancers. Considering the varied environmental and genotoxic exposures among the Indian population, we conducted a genome-wide DNA methylation study on paired tumor and adjacent normal tissues of ten well-differentiated OSCC patients and validated in an additional 53 well-differentiated OSCC and adjacent normal samples.

Results

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis identified several novel differentially methylated regions associated with OSCC. Hypermethylation is primarily enriched in the CpG-rich regions, while hypomethylation is mainly in the open sea. Distinct epigenetic drifts for hypo- and hypermethylation across CpG islands suggested independent mechanisms of hypo- and hypermethylation in OSCC development. Aberrant DNA methylation in the promoter regions are concomitant with gene expression. Hypomethylation of immune genes reflect the lymphocyte infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. Comparison of methylome data with 312 TCGA HNSCC samples identified a unique set of hypomethylated promoters among the OSCC patients in India. Pathway analysis of unique hypomethylated promoters indicated that the OSCC patients in India induce an anti-tumor T cell response, with mobilization of T lymphocytes in the neoplastic environment. Survival analysis of these epigenetically regulated immune genes suggested their prominent role in OSCC progression.

Conclusions

Our study identified a unique set of hypomethylated regions, enriched in the promoters of immune response genes, and indicated the presence of a strong immune component in the tumor microenvironment. These methylation changes may serve as potential molecular markers to define risk and to monitor the prognosis of OSCC patients in India.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13148-017-0314-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Metabonomics applied in exploring the antitumour mechanism of physapubenolide on hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting glycolysis through the Akt-p53 pathway

Metabolomics can be used to identify potential markers and discover new targets for future therapeutic interventions. Here, we developed a novel application of the metabonomics method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) for rapidly exploring the anticancer mechanism of physapubenolide (PB), a cytotoxic withanolide isolated from Physalis species. PB inhibited the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo, accompanied by apoptosis-related biochemical events, including the cleavage of caspase-3/7/9 and PARP. Metabolic profiling analysis revealed that PB disturbed the metabolic pattern and significantly decreased lactate production. This suggests that the suppression of glycolysis plays an important role in the anti-tumour effects induced by PB, which is further supported by the decreased expression of glycolysis-related genes and proteins. Furthermore, the increased level of p53 and decreased expression of p-Akt were observed, and the attenuated glycolysis and enhanced apoptosis were reversed in the presence of Akt cDNA or p53 siRNA. These results confirm that PB exhibits anti-cancer activities through the Akt-p53 pathway. Our study not only reports for the first time the anti-tumour mechanism of PB, but also suggests that PB is a promising therapeutic agent for use in cancer treatments and that metabolomic approaches provide a new strategy to effectively explore the molecular mechanisms of promising anticancer compounds.

Immunocompromised and immunocompetent mouse models for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Mouse models can closely mimic human oral squamous epithelial carcinogenesis, greatly expand the in vivo research possibilities, and play a critical role in the development of diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. With the development of the recent research on the contribution of immunity/inflammation to cancer initiation and progression, mouse models have been divided into two categories, namely, immunocompromised and immunocompetent mouse models. And thus, this paper will review these two kinds of models applied in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma to provide a platform to understand the complicated histological, molecular, and genetic changes of oral squamous epithelial tumorigenesis.

Chronic Inflammation-Related HPV: A Driving Force Speeds Oropharyngeal Carcinogenesis

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has been known to be a highly aggressive disease associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. To investigate the relationship between HPV and chronic inflammation in oropharyngeal carcinogenesis, we collected 140 oral mucous fresh specimens including 50 OPSCC patients, 50 cancer in situ, 30 precancerous lesions, and 10 normal oral mucous. Our data demonstrated that there was a significantly higher proportion of severe chronic inflammation in dysplastic epithelia in comparison with that in normal tissues (P<0.001). The positive rate of HPV 16 was parallel with the chronic inflammation degrees from mild to severe inflammation (P<0.05). The positive rate of HPV 16 was progressively improved with the malignant progression of oral mucous (P<0.05). In addition, CD11b+ LIN- HLA-DR-CD33+ MDSCs were a critical cell population that mediates inflammation response and immune suppression in HPV-positive OPSCC. These indicated that persistent chronic inflammation-related HPV infection might drive oropharyngeal carcinogenesis and MDSCs might pay an important role during this process. Thus, a combination of HPV infection and inflammation expression might become a helpful biomedical marker to predict oropharyngeal carcinogenesis.