title: Plectin promotes migration and invasion of cancer cells and is a novel prognostic marker for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is usually found at a late stage and distant metastasis occurs at high frequency; therefore, novel prognostic markers are needed. This study was aimed to identify novel tumor markers in HNSCC. We identified 65 proteins which were significantly increased or decreased in the tumors by 2D-DIGE using 12 HNSCC and adjacent non-cancer tissues. Western blotting and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed that the expression of plectin was significantly increased in most cancer tissues as compared with non-cancer tissues. Strikingly, the suppression of endogenous plectin using siRNA inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of HNSCC cells and down-regulated Erk 1/2 kinase. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry using paraffin-embedded tissues from 62 patients showed not only that the frequency of recurrence was correlated with the plectin expression but that the prognosis of patients with a high plectin was extremely poor. Moreover, the survival rate of patients with a high plectin was significantly lower than that of patients with low E-cadherin levels, which is known to correlate with the poor prognosis of HNSCC. Our findings suggest that plectin promotes the migration and invasion of HNSCC cells through activation of Erk 1/2 kinase and is a potential prognostic biomarker of HNSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katada
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomonaga
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Yurie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tonoike
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kodera
authors.forename: Toyoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanazawa
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000517:prevention & control; D051190:Plectin / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051190:Plectin; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering