Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital, Harbin, China.
J Int Med Res. 2021 Nov;49(11):3000605211053158. doi: 10.1177/03000605211053158.
P-element Induced WImpy protein-like RNA-mediated gene silencing 2 (PIWIL2) is a reported oncogene strongly associated with tumorigenesis and cancer progression. However, the potential function of PIWIL2 in oral cancer is still largely unclear.
In this study, we investigated the clinical significance of PIWIL2 expression in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines and tissues. We also examined its function in OSCC pathogenesis by knocking down PIWIL2 expression with short hairpin RNAs, followed by phenotypic experiments focused on cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and apoptosis rates.
We found that PIWIL2 was overexpressed in OSCC cell lines and tissues and significantly correlated with the malignancy stage. Furthermore, knockdown of PIWIL2 in a human OSCC cell line Tca8113 induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Silencing PIWIL2 expression also significantly suppressed the migration and invasion abilities of Tca8113 cells.
Collectively, our results suggest a functional role of PIWIL2 in regulating OSCC pathogenesis. Our data imply that PIWIL2 could serve as a potential therapeutic target for OSCC treatment.
P 元素诱导的 Wi 蛋白样 RNA 介导的基因沉默 2（PIWIL2）是一种报道的癌基因，与肿瘤发生和癌症进展密切相关。然而，PIWIL2 在口腔癌中的潜在功能仍在很大程度上不清楚。
在本研究中，我们研究了 PIWIL2 在人口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）细胞系和组织中的表达的临床意义。我们还通过短发夹 RNA 敲低 PIWIL2 表达，研究了其在 OSCC 发病机制中的功能，然后进行了集中于细胞迁移、侵袭、增殖和凋亡率的表型实验。
我们发现 PIWIL2 在 OSCC 细胞系和组织中过度表达，并且与恶性程度阶段显著相关。此外，在人 OSCC 细胞系 Tca8113 中敲低 PIWIL2 诱导细胞周期停滞和细胞凋亡。沉默 PIWIL2 表达还显著抑制了 Tca8113 细胞的迁移和侵袭能力。
综上所述，我们的结果表明 PIWIL2 在调节 OSCC 发病机制中具有功能作用。我们的数据表明，PIWIL2 可以作为 OSCC 治疗的潜在治疗靶点。
