Salivary NUS1 and RCN1 Levels as Biomarkers for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Diagnosis

In Vivo. 2020 Sep-Oct;34(5):2353-2361. doi: 10.21873/invivo.12048.

Abstract

Background/aim: Oral cancer may become advanced because of delay in diagnosis. In order to promote oral cancer screening, simple and highly reliable screening methods that can be implemented at general dental clinics are required. Herein we investigated differential salivary gene expression between oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients and healthy volunteers (HV) to identify new biomarkers for OSCC detection.

Materials and methods: Candidate genes were selected by microarrays, nuclear undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase 1 (NUS1) and reticulocalbin 1 (RCN1) were selected for further investigation. We used real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to determine NUS1 and RCN1 expression levels in saliva and tissues.

Results: qRT-PCR analysis of clinical samples revealed that OSCC patients had significantly higher expression of salivary NUS1 and RCN1 than HV.

Conclusion: A combination of NUS1 and RCN1 accurately distinguished patients from controls, and this combination can be implemented as a screening test for OSCC.

Keywords: Biomarkers; cancer; early detection; nuclear undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase 1(NUS1); oral squamous cell carcinoma; reticulocalbin 1(RCN1).

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms* / diagnosis
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Humans
  • Mouth Neoplasms* / diagnosis
  • Mouth Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • Saliva
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck* / diagnosis
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck* / genetics

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins
  • NUS1 protein, human
  • RCN1 protein, human
  • Receptors, Cell Surface