title: Elevated protein kinase CK2 activity in chromatin of head and neck tumors: association with malignant transformation.
abstract: We hypothesized that malignant transformation of normal mucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract to squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) might be associated with altered CK2 activity in the chromatin compartment of these tumors. We measured CK2 activity in the cytosol and chromatin of 7 surgical specimens of SCCHN, and 5 specimens of normal oropharyngeal mucosa from non-smokers/non-drinkers. CK2 activity in SCCHN tumors was significantly elevated in both the nuclear chromatin (P < 0.0005) and cytosolic (P <0.04) compartments relative to normal mucosa. These data suggest that activation of dysregulation of the chromatin-associated CK2 signal may play a role in the pathobiology od SCCHN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55417, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Faust
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gapany
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tristani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology*; D047390:Casein Kinase II; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000201:enzymology; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000201:enzymology*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000201:enzymology; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000201:enzymology; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002843:Chromatin; D009842:Oligopeptides; D047390:Casein Kinase II; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases