Mitophagy-Related Gene CHDH Predicts Prognosis and Immune Response and Inhibits Proliferation and Migration in vitro and in vivo of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common head and neck cancer with high morbidity and mortality. Mitophagy is a special type of cellular autophagy that plays an important role in tumors, but its role in OSCC is still unclear.

METHODS

Mitophagy-related genes (MRGs) were obtained from the GeneCards database. Differential expression analysis was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tumor samples and normal samples. Univariate Cox regression was then performed on the DEGs to determine prognostic MRGs, which were used to compare CNV mutation frequencies and construct consensus cluster analysis. Risk models were constructed to evaluate the prognosis and immune status of OSCC patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to determine MRGs that independently predicted OSCC prognosis. The expression levels of genes and their effects on OSCC proliferation, migration, and invasion were further validated by in vitro and in vivo studies.

RESULTS

We identified 298 DEGs associated with OSCC survival, and 8 genes were used to create a risk model that can accurately predict the prognosis of OSCC patients, which can accurately assess the immune status of patients with different risks. OSCC patients were clustered into 2 subtypes, and there were significant differences between the two subtypes. Drug sensitivity analysis was used to select 72 sensitive drugs for the low-risk group and 9 sensitive drugs for the high-risk group. Choline dehydrogenase (CHDH) was identified as a reliable and independent predictor of OSCC. CHDH overexpression significantly inhibited OSCC cell proliferation, migration, colony formation, and tumor growth.

CONCLUSION

This study's prediction model, created using MRGs, may accurately predict the prognosis and immune response of patients with OSCC. CHDH is essential to the development and progression of OSCC and can be a potential target for treating OSCC.