Aberrant expression of the ZDHHC14 gene in squamous cell carcinoma of the human tongue

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed gene(s) among lymph node-positive (pN+) cases and lymph node-negative (pN−) cases of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC).

Patients and methods

We examined genetic aberrations and gene expression profiles in 20 cases of primary TSCCs, paired normal oral tissues, six TSCC-derived cell lines, and normal oral keratinocytes (NOKs). Whole genome profiling using the Affymetrix 10K SNP Mapping Array was performed on three pN+ cases and two pN− cases of TSCCs and the results were compared to normal tissues. We also examined the mRNA expression level of the candidate gene product identified.

Results

We found that the DNA copy number abnormality of the chromosome 6q region is associated with TSCC metastasis. ZDHHC14 is on 6q25.3, a region gained in pN+ cases of TSCCs compared with pN− cases. Quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction showed that ZDHHC14 was overexpressed in all TSCC-derived cell lines compared with primary cultured NOKs at the mRNA level. Similar to the TSCC-derived cell lines, high frequencies of ZDHHC14 up-regulation were evident in mRNA levels of primary tumors (n = 8/20, 40%). This up-regulation also is closely associated with lymph node status (P = 0.0008).

Conclusions

These results suggested that ZDHHC14 expression may be correlated with lymph node metastasis and offers clues to the planning of new treatments such as early detection, prevention, and therapy for TSCC metastasis.