Wakhloo Tulika, Durgapal Prashant, Chowdhury Nilotpal, Reddy Srinivas, Chug Ashi, Kishore Sanjeev
Dentistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Rishikesh, IND.
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Rishikesh, IND.
Cureus. 2024 Sep 9;16(9):e68994. doi: 10.7759/cureus.68994. eCollection 2024 Sep.
Background Microtubule-associated protein light chains (LC) 3A and 3B are the structural proteins of the autophagosomal membrane widely used as endogenous autophagy markers. LC3A and LC3B autophagosomes reportedly have a distinct subcellular localization yet their role in the transition from premalignant to malignant phase remains unclear. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the expression of autophagy-related proteins LC3A and LC3B in oral premalignant lesions (OPL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 OPL and 39 OSCC samples. OPL samples comprised both dysplastic and non-dysplastic lesions. The expression of LC3A and LC3B markers was evaluated in the study samples using immunohistochemistry and associated with dysplasia in OPL and with invasive OSCC versus OPL. Fisher's exact test was used for statistical analysis. Results There was a higher ratio of LC3A positivity in non-dysplastic OPL (31/38) compared to dysplastic premalignant lesions (36/62, p=0.017). There was a higher ratio of LC3B positivity in dysplastic OPL (16/62) compared to non-dysplastic lesions (4/38) with a trend towards statistical significance (p=0.075). There was no statistical difference in the ratio of LC3A positivity between OSCC (23/39) and premalignant (67/100) lesions, while the ratio of LC3B marker positivity was higher in OSCC cases (18/39) relative to premalignant lesions (20/100, p=0.003). Conclusion Autophagy-related proteins LC3A and LC3B may have different roles to play in a disease context manner. LC3A is likely to be negatively associated with dysplasia in OPL while LC3B expression is positively associated with carcinogenesis of OSCC, possibly including dysplasia.
背景 微管相关蛋白轻链（LC）3A和3B是自噬体膜的结构蛋白，广泛用作内源性自噬标记物。据报道，LC3A和LC3B自噬体具有不同的亚细胞定位，但其在从癌前阶段向恶性阶段转变中的作用仍不清楚。这项探索性研究旨在调查自噬相关蛋白LC3A和LC3B在口腔癌前病变（OPL）和口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）病例中的表达。方法 对100例OPL和39例OSCC样本进行了横断面研究。OPL样本包括发育异常和非发育异常病变。使用免疫组织化学评估研究样本中LC3A和LC3B标记物的表达，并与OPL中的发育异常以及侵袭性OSCC与OPL相关联。采用Fisher精确检验进行统计分析。结果 与发育异常的癌前病变（36/62，p = 0.017）相比，非发育异常的OPL（31/38）中LC3A阳性率更高。与非发育异常病变（4/38）相比，发育异常的OPL（16/62）中LC3B阳性率更高，有统计学意义的趋势（p = 0.075）。OSCC（23/39）和癌前（67/100）病变之间LC3A阳性率没有统计学差异，而OSCC病例（18/39）中LC3B标记物阳性率相对于癌前病变（20/100，p = 0.003）更高。结论 自噬相关蛋白LC3A和LC3B可能在疾病背景下发挥不同作用。LC3A可能与OPL中的发育异常呈负相关，而LC3B表达与OSCC的致癌作用呈正相关，可能包括发育异常。
