The expression and role of tubulin polymerization-promoting protein 3 in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common malignancies of head and neck tumors, accounting for about 3 % of all malignant cancers. More than 280,000 new OSCC cases and approximately 130,000 deaths are reported worldwide every year (Siegel et al., 2019). Although considerable progress has been made in the treatment of OSCC with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, OSCC still has a high tolerance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy due to the interaction between tumor cells and the microenvironment. In addition, the early diagnosis of OSCC is difficult. OSCC is prone to lymph node metastasis and is highly invasive. The 5-year survival rate of OSCC patients is only about 50 % (Torre et al., 2015). Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate the possible mechanism involved in OSCC pathogenesis and find new targets for its diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

The tubulin polymerization-promoting protein family consists of three members: tubulin polymerization-promoting protein 1, tubulin polymerization-promoting protein 2, and tubulin polymerization-promoting protein 3 (TPPP3), which can bind to tubulin, promote microtubule aggregation and maintain the stability and integrity of the microtubule system (Vincze et al., 2006). Microtubules are the main component of the mitotic spindle, which controls all aspects of cell division and chromosome segregation. Studies have revealed that microtubule dynamics are altered during cancer cell division and are linked to chromosome instability, dysplasia, and drug resistance (Parker et al., 2017). A variety of anticancer drugs exert their effects by acting on microtubules and microtubule-associated proteins. In recent years, more and more studies have explored the relationship between TPPP3 and tumors. The knockdown of TPPP3 has been reported to inhibit cell proliferation, induce cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in vitro, and inhibit tumor growth, including non-small cell lung cancer (Parker et al., 2017), breast cancer (Ren et al., 2020), colorectal cancer (Ye et al., 2017), etc.

However, no relevant studies were reported about the expression and role of TPPP3 in OSCC. Thus, the aims of the present study were to investigate the expression, prognostic landscape, potential functions and pathways of TPPP3 in OSCC and explore the relationship between TPPP3 expression and immune infiltration.

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