Oral Biomedicine ›› 2024, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (6): 328-334.

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Expression pattern of ETV4 and its clinicopathological significance in oral squamous cell carcinoma

juan YingYu,   

  • Received:2024-06-11 Revised:2024-07-10 Online:2024-12-25 Published:2025-02-25

Abstract: Objective:?To explore the expression and clinicopathologic significance of E26 transformation-specific variant transcription factor 4 (ETV4) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods:?The expression level of ETV4 in OSCC and normal oral mucosa epithelial tissues were determined by bioinformatics analysis, which revealed the relationship between the expression of ETV4 and the prognosis of OSCC patients. We constructed a small interfering RNA targeting ETV4 to knockdown ETV4 in Cal27 cells. Western blot experiments were utilized to verify the knockdown efficiency. The effect of ETV4 silencing on the proliferation of Cal27 cells was tested by clone formation assay. The effects of ETV4 silencing on cell migration, invasion and apoptosis of Cal27 cells were examined by migration assay, invasion assay and flow cytometry analysis. Western blot experiment was utilized to examine changes in protein levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related marker after ETV4 knockdown. GSEA analysis was used to explore the pathway of differential gene enrichment between two groups of patients with high and low expression of ETV4 in TCGA-HNSCC. Results:?Bioinformatics analysis showed that ETV4 was highly expressed in OSCC tissues (P<0.05); The expression level of ETV4 was significantly correlated with overall survival rate of patients (P<0.05); Targeted silencing of ETV4 inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration of Cal27 cells and promoted the apoptosis of Cal27 cells (P<0.05); Targeted silencing of ETV4 inhibited the EMT process in Cal27 cells. The differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in the pathways of EMT and HNSCC between two groups of patients. Conclusions:?ETV4 is highly expressed in OSCC and can be utilized as a biomarker for survival prognosis in OSCC patients. ETV4 positively regulates the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of OSCC cells, and is negatively correlated with the apoptosis of OSCC cells.

Key words: Oral squamous cell carcinoma, ?ETV4, ?Cellular phenotype, EMT