Premium
Gene expression changes associated with malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders
Author(s) -
Sathasivam Hans P.,
Casement John,
Bates Timothy,
Sloan Philip,
Thomson Peter,
Robinson Max,
Kist Ralf
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.13090
Subject(s) - gene , malignant transformation , rna , gene expression , biology , fold change , downregulation and upregulation , cancer research , pathology , medicine , genetics
Background A large number of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) are believed to be preceded by oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) that have an increased likelihood of malignant transformation compared to clinically normal mucosa. This study was performed to identify differentially expressed genes between OPMDs that underwent malignant transformation (MT) and those that did not, termed “non‐transforming” (NT) cases. Methods Total RNA was extracted from formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue biopsies of 20 OPMD cases with known clinical outcomes (10 MT vs. 10 NT). Samples were assessed for quantity, quality and integrity of RNA prior to sequencing. Analysis for differential gene expression between MT and NT was performed using statistical packages in R. Genes were considered to be significantly differentially expressed if the False Discovery Rate corrected P ‐value was < 0.05. Results RNA yield was variable but RNA purity was good (A260/A280 > 1.90). Analysis of RNA‐Sequencing outputs revealed 41 genes (34 protein‐coding; 7 non‐coding) that were significantly differentially expressed between MT and NT cases. The log2 fold change for the statistically significant differentially expressed genes ranged from −2.63 to 2.48, with 23 protein‐coding genes being downregulated and 11 protein‐coding genes being upregulated in MT cases compared to NT cases. Conclusion Several candidate genes that may play a role in malignant transformation of OPMD have been identified. Experiments to validate these candidates are underway. It is anticipated that this work will contribute to better understanding of the etiopathogenesis of OPMD and development of novel biomarkers.