Functional analysis of long-chain non-coding RNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the expression profile of long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to explore the biological functions of differentially expressed lncRNA in the cancer tissues as compared with adjacent normal tissues, and the differentially expressed lncRNAs related to OSCC were screened. METHODS: High-throughput lncRNA microarray assay was used to detect the expression of lncRNA and mRNA in the OSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues from five patients. The expression profiles of the lncRNA and mRNA in the cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed and the differentially expressed lncRNA and mRNAs were identified. The differentially expressed mRNA was analyzed with GO, Pathway and disease annotation enrichment database, and the mRNAs related to the tumor and the lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network were employed to screen the key lncRNA related to the occurrence and development of OSCC. RESULTS: A total of 3,022 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 4,364 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified in the OSCC tissues as compared with adjacent normal tissues. A further analysis revealed 130 major differentially expressed mRNAs related to the tumor. When the correlation was >0.99 or <-0.99 and P value was <0.05, there were 73 differentially expressed mRNA in case of mRNA /lncRNA co-expression. The intersection of two gene symbols resulted in the nine lncRNAs closely related to the OSCC, in which five showed up-regulation and six had down-regulation. Based on the co-expression of the lncRNAs and mRNAs (correlation 40.99 or correlation -0.99 and P value <0.05), there were differentially expressed mRNAs with co-expression with lncRNA. CONCLUSIONS: The differentially expressed lncRNAs identified in this study are related to the occurrence and development of OSCC. This may provide new therapeutic targets and biomarkers for OSCC and is also helpful for further investigation of pathogenesis of OSCC.

[Expression and significance of YAP and TAZ proteins in oral squamous cell carcinoma].

PURPOSE: To investigate the expression and significance of YAP and TAZ proteins in oral squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: From February 2014 to March 2017, 113 oral squamous cell carcinoma specimens were selected, and the adjacent tissues (away from carcinoma >2 cm) were selected as the control. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of YAP and TAZ protein, and its relationship with clinicopathological features were evaluated with SPSS 19.0 software package. RESULTS: The positive rate of YAP and TAZ protein in cancer tissues was 65.49% and 61.95%, respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the adjacent tissues (P<0.05). The positive expression of YAP protein in patients with low differentiation, cervical lymph node metastasis, stage Ⅲ, tumor diameter>4 cm were 83.64%, 80.33%, 82.35% and 82.61%, significantly higher than that inpatients with high differentiation, without cervical lymph node metastasis, stage I-II, tumor diameter ≤4 cm (P<0.05). The positive expression rate of TAZ protein in patients with low differentiation, stage III, tumor diameter >4 cm was 80%, 85.29% and 82.61%, significantly higher than that in patients with high differentiation, stage I-II, tumor diameter ≤4 cm (P<0.05). The expression of YAP protein was positively correlated with the expression of TAZ protein (rs=0.571, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: YAP and TAZ proteins are strongly expressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma, closely related to the clinical and pathological features such as the degree of differentiation and the diameter of the tumor, suggesting that Hippo signaling pathway may be involved in the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Treatment of postparotidectomy Frey syndrome with the interposition of temporalis fascia and sternocleidomastoid flaps.

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of overlapping the temporalis fascia flaps (TFFs) and the sternocleidomastoid muscle flaps (SCMFs) as physical barriers to treat established Frey syndrome and concavity after parotidectomy. STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed 17 patients who underwent corrective procedures with simultaneous TFF and SCMF interposition for the treatment of Frey syndrome. The affected areas of the cheek skin were identified with starch-iodine tests. The facial contours of the patients were classified as bilaterally symmetric (BS), with a slightly shallow (SS) contour on the surgical side, or with a conspicuously shallow (CS) contour on the surgical side. RESULTS: The sample was followed up for a mean of 22 months. The average area of gustatory-sweating positive skin was reduced from 12.80 to 1.32 square centimeters postoperatively. The facial asymmetry secondary to parotidectomy was greatly improved. CONCLUSIONS: The authors concluded that this technique was efficacious in ameliorating Frey syndrome and facial concavity secondary to parotidectomy.