Identification of actin cytoskeleton organization genes in oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders using oral tissue RNA-seq database

Abstract

Oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders (leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis) areprevalent and clinically significant oral diseases. Actin, crucial for epithelial tissue integrity, undergoes cytoskel-eton reorganization associated with increased invasiveness in oral cancer. Material and Methods: Bioinformatic analysis of RNA-seq data from GEO public databases was performed todetect differentially expressed genes in oral cancer, leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis. Enrichment analysisof the differentially expressed genes was performed using DAVID and GSEA softwares. ROC curve and survival analysis were conducted to assess the discriminative capacity of these genes as possible biomarkers. The resultswere further validated using RNAseq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). EPRS1 was consistently overexpressed in all three pathologies. Key genes (ACTIN1, LIMK1, CORO1C,INF2, SH3D21, CFL1, FSCN1, MYO1B) implicated in actin cytoskeleton organization were identified, suggestingtheir role in oral potentially malignant disorders and cancer progression. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves on 522 TCGA samples demonstrated these genes' potential as early biomarkers for oral cancer, with their inhibition associated with improved survival. The identified genes offer insights into actin-related mechanisms and potential pathways for the diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer. Nonetheless, further research is essential to validate these results.