Prion protein expression as a prognostic marker for neck squamous cell carcinoma

Objectives

To investigate hypoxia's effect in lymph node metastasis by prion protein (PRNP) expression changes and its main partners.

Study Design

The study was performed through 2 consecutive steps: In the first step, bioinformatics and cell culture were performed and then a case-control study comparing patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) with and without lymph node metastasis. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data validated the hypothesis.

Results

Bioinformatics analysis suggests that hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF1A) is associated with HSPA4, HSP90AA1, and PRNP expression. TCGA data validate the hypothesis that higher HSP90AA1, HSPA4, and PRNP are related to metastases and low survival. The cell study demonstrated that muted PRNP did not respond to hypoxia.

Conclusions

These findings showed the importance of PRNP and its upregulation molecules in metastases. It was possible to conclude that PRNP promotes HNSC lymph node metastasis progression through the upregulation of HSPA4, HSP90AA1, and HIF1A.