SOX2 promotes a cancer stem cell-like phenotype and local spreading in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Emerging evidence shows that oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) invasiveness can be attributed to a small subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the bulk of the tumor. However, the presence of CSCs in the OSCC close resection margins is still poorly unexplored. Here, we found that BMI1, CD44, SOX2, OCT4, UBE2C, CXCR4 CSCs marker genes are significantly upregulated, while IGF1-R, KLF4, ALDH1A1, CD133, FAM3C are downregulated in the tumor core vs healthy mucosa of 24 patients with OSCC. Among these, SOX2 appears also upregulated in the tumor close margin vs healthy mucosa and this significantly correlates with tumor size and lymph node compromise. In vitro analyses in CAL27 and SCC15 tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, show that SOX2 transient knockdown i) promotes the mesenchy

SUBMITTER: Sacco A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10721099 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature