Role of prognostic gene DKK1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Yujiao Liu; Congcong Wei; Song Wang; Shuxin Ding; Yanan Li; Yongguo Li; Dongping Zhang; Guoxiong Zhu; Zhen Meng

doi:10.3892/ol.2023.14184

Role of prognostic gene DKK1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oncol Lett. 2023 Dec 12;27(2):52. doi: 10.3892/ol.2023.14184. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Authors

Yujiao Liu^{1

2}, Congcong Wei², Song Wang², Shuxin Ding³, Yanan Li⁴, Yongguo Li², Dongping Zhang^{1

2}, Guoxiong Zhu^{1

5}, Zhen Meng^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Shandong University and Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Tissue Regeneration and Shandong Engineering Laboratory for Dental Materials and Oral Tissue Regeneration, Jinan, Shandong 250000, P.R. China.
² Department of Stomatology & Precision Biomedical Laboratory, Liaocheng People's Hospital, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong 252000, P.R. China.
³ School of Stomatology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong 261000, P.R. China.
⁴ Biomedical Laboratory, Medical School of Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong 252000, P.R. China.
⁵ Department of Stomatology, PLA 960th Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250000, P.R. China.

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. The morbidity and mortality rates of OSCC have increased in recent years. However, the pathogenesis of this disease remains unknown. The present study aimed to identify predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets for OSCC. Bioinformatics screening of differentially expressed genes in OSCC was performed based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. Dickkopf Wnt signaling pathway inhibitor 1 (DKK1) was identified to be associated with survival, tumor immunity and DNA repair in OSCC. Furthermore, the effects of DKK1 were evaluated by the knockdown of DKK1 in two OSCC cell lines. The proliferation, clonogenicity, migration and invasion of the cells were assessed in vitro using Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively, and were found to be inhibited by DKK1 knockdown. The present study suggests that DKK1 may be used in the prognosis of patients with OSCC and that targeting DKK1 is a potential strategy for OSCC therapy.

Keywords: DKK1; bioinformatics; immune infiltration; oral squamous cell carcinoma; prognosis marker.

Grants and funding

The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81602374), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (grant no. ZR2021MH176), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant no. 2021M701538) and the Natural Science Foundation of Liaocheng People's Hospital (grant no. LYQN201903).