title: Analysis of tissue and salivary nicotinamide N-methyltransferase in oral squamous cell carcinoma: basis for the development of a noninvasive diagnostic test for early-stage disease.
abstract: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common form of head and neck cancer worldwide. In recent decades, the 5-year mortality rate is approximately 50% around the world. As reliable biomarkers of oral cancer are still lacking, it is necessary to identify new target molecules for early diagnosis, effective therapy, and monitoring of the disease. In the present work, we focused on the expression of the enzyme nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT). We analyzed enzyme activity in 37 paired tumor and non-tumor tissues and found that activity levels are significantly higher in tumor compared with adjacent normal oral mucosa. Interestingly, oral epithelium surrounding tumor of unfavorable cases (N+) seems to display higher activity levels compared with that of favorable ones (N0). Western blot analyses were performed to evaluate protein levels in saliva samples from patients with OSCC and healthy subjects. Preliminary results indicated an up-regulation of salivary NNMT in tumor. This study shows a marked increase in enzyme activity in oral cancer and suggests that adjacent normal tissue of unfavorable cases seems to change toward cancer. Moreover, it is conceivable to hypothesize that NNMT could represent a potential biomarker for early and non-invasive diagnosis of oral cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sartini
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pozzi
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Renzi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morganti
authors.forename: Romina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rocchetti
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rubini
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santarelli
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lo Muzio
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emanuelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D050903:Nicotinamide N-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D050903:Nicotinamide N-Methyltransferase