title: An overview of the spindle assembly checkpoint status in oral cancer.
abstract: Abnormal chromosome number, or aneuploidy, is a common feature of human solid tumors, including oral cancer. Deregulated spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) is thought as one of the mechanisms that drive aneuploidy. In normal cells, SAC prevents anaphase onset until all chromosomes are correctly aligned at the metaphase plate thereby ensuring genomic stability. Significantly, the activity of this checkpoint is compromised in many cancers. While mutations are rather rare, many tumors show altered expression levels of SAC components. Genomic alterations such as aneuploidy indicate a high risk of oral cancer and cancer-related mortality, and the molecular basis of these alterations is largely unknown. Yet, our knowledge on the status of SAC components in oral cancer remains sparse. In this review, we address the state of our knowledge regarding the SAC defects and the underlying molecular mechanisms in oral cancer, and discuss their therapeutic relevance, focusing our analysis on the core components of SAC and its target Cdc20.
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal.
authors.forename: José Henrique
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal ; Centre for Molecular and Structural Biomedicine, CBME/IBB, University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Patrícia Manuela
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rita Margarida
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Inês Moranguinho
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luís Silva
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal ; Centro de Química Medicinal da Universidade do Porto (CEQUIMED-UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal ; Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bousbaa
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D064199:Cdc20 Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D059566:M Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D009865:Oocytes / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D064199:Cdc20 Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C577488:CDC20 protein, human