title: Human beta-defensin-1 suppresses tumor migration and invasion and is an independent predictor for survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human beta-defensin-1 (hBD-1) has recently been considered as a candidate tumor suppressor in renal and prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of hBD-1 in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its potential as diagnostic/prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for OSCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  HBD-1 expression in tissues at different stages of oral carcinogenesis, as well as OSCC cell lines was examined. HBD-1 was overexpressed in HSC-3, UM1, SCC-9 and SCC-25 cells and subjected to cell growth, apoptosis, migration and invasion assays. Tissue microarray constructed with tissues from 175 patients was used to examine clinicopathological significance of hBD-1 expression in OSCC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HBD-1 expression decreased from oral precancerous lesions to OSCC and was lower in OSCC with lymph node metastasis than those without metastasis. In vitro, the expression of hBD-1 was related to the invasive potential of OSCC cell lines. Induction of exogenous expression of hBD-1 inhibited migration and invasion of OSCC cells, probably by regulation of RhoA, RhoC and MMP-2; but had no significant effect on proliferation or apoptosis. In a cohort of patients with primary OSCC, cases with no expression of hBD-1 had more chance to be involved in lymph node metastasis. Eventually, the positive expression of hBD-1 was associated with longer survival of patients with OSCC, and multivariate analysis and ROC curve analysis confirmed hBD-1 positivity to be an independent prognostic factor of OSCC, especially OSCC at early stage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, these data indicated that hBD-1 suppressed tumor migration and invasion of OSCC and was likely to be a prognostic biomarker and a potential target for treatment of OSCC.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Ruinan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Chongkui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Dongjuan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Ga
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Qianming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C406407:DEFB1 protein, human; D023083:beta-Defensins