Nucleostemin upregulation and STAT3 activation as early events in oral epithelial dysplasia progression to squamous cell carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Most low-grade oral epithelial dysplasia remains static or regress, but a significant minority of them (4-11%) advances to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) within a few years. To monitor the progression of epithelial dysplasia for early cancer detection, we investigated the expression profiles of nucleostemin (NS) and phospho-STAT3 (p-STAT3) in rodent and human samples of dysplasia and OSCCs. In a 4NQO-induced rat oral carcinogenesis model, the number and distribution of NS and p-STAT3-positive cells increased in hyperplastic, dysplastic, and neoplastic lesions compared to normal epithelium. In human samples, the NS signal significantly increased in high-grade dysplasia and poorly differentiated OSCC, whereas p-STAT3 was more ubiquitously expressed than NS and showed increased intensity

SUBMITTER: Crawford M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8605099 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature