ROS-mediated ITGB5 promotes tongue squamous cell carcinoma metastasis through epithelial mesenchymal transition and cell adhesion signal pathway.

Purpose: Integrin β5 (ITGB5) is an integrin β subunit member widely expressed in the human bodies, especially in cancer cells and tissues, which is a key factor in promoting tumor metastasis. In this study we investigated the differential expression of ITGB5 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC), especially in those with lymph node metastasis, and revealed the possible mechanism.

Methods: The expression of ITGB5 in TSCC was analyzed by database and verified by immunohistochemistry through 135 TSCC patients' tissue sections from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and Guangzhou First People's Hospital. The relationship between ITGB5 and lymph node metastasis or prognosis was analyzed retrospectively. The effects of ITGB5 on TSCC cells were examined through knocking down or overexpression and its possible regulator and signal pathway were explored.

Results: The expression of ITGB5 in TSCC was higher than that in adjacent tissue, and the expression in patients with lymph node metastasis was higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis. The high expression of ITGB5 predicted a worse prognosis. Knock down of ITGB5 suppressed invasion and migration of TSCC cells, while overexpression of ITGB5 contributed to invasion and migration. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulated epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and we further verified that ROS enhanced the expression of ITGB5 to promote the metastasis of TSCC. Mechanistically, ITGB5 functions through cell adhesion signal pathway.

Conclusion: The increased expression of ITGB5 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma with lymph node metastasis may be a potential target for evaluating lymph node metastasis and worse prognosis of tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Scavenge of ROS or knock down of ITGB5 may be the strategies to overcome metastasis of TSCC.