Frontiers in Oncology (Dec 2022)

Overexpression of Mena is associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma via EMT

  • Sijia Na,
  • Sijia Na,
  • Hao Cui,
  • Hao Cui,
  • Zhichen Guo,
  • Zhichen Guo,
  • Xiang Liang,
  • Xiang Liang,
  • Karim Ahmed Sakran,
  • Karim Ahmed Sakran,
  • Xiaomei Guo,
  • Xiaomei Guo,
  • Xingqiang Li,
  • Xingqiang Li,
  • Linyang Xie,
  • Linyang Xie,
  • Yifei Zhu,
  • Yifei Zhu,
  • Hong Qi,
  • Hong Qi,
  • Junbo Tu,
  • Junbo Tu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.1052375
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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BackgroundMena, a cytoskeletal regulatory protein, is involved in actin-based regulation of cell motility and adhesion, and contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis. However, the role of Mena in oral squamous cell carcinoma remains unclear. This is the first research focusing on the prognostic value of Mena in OSCC. In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between Mena expression and clinicopathological significance, as well as prognostic value in OSCC.MethodsMena gene expression profiles of OSCC and normal tissues were collected from Oncomine, TCGA, and GEO databases. Biological function was analyzed through GO, KEGG and GSEA enrichment. Further, the expression level of Mena and tumor-related markers in 151 OSCC specimens was examined by IHC staining based on tissue microarray. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess the prognostic performance of Mena in OSCC.ResultMena was generally upregulation in various malignancies, especially OSCC. The functional analyses indicated that Mena was involved in the assembly and regulation of actin, cell movement, and EMT. IHC staining revealed that high expression of Mena in OSCC was correlated with Lymphatic metastasis, TNM stage, E-cadherin, Vimentin, and MMP-2, but insignificantly Ki67. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that elevated expression of Mena was significantly associated with poor overall survival and disease-free survival of OSCC patients.ConclusionMena could be a novel biomarker for predicting the prognosis of OSCC patients, which supports a theoretical basis for developing molecular target therapy.

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