Proteomic and Transcriptomic Biomarker Panel for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Abdolreza Mohamadnia, Mohammad Bayat, Farnoosh Mohammadi, Neda Moattar Husseini, Amir Jalal Abbasi, Shadi Shafaghi, Zahra Najafi, Mehdi KazemPour Dizaji, Mahya Daustani, Rosa Karimi, Naghmeh BahramiAbstract
Background:
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major malignancy with poor prognosis and no reliable early detection biomarkers. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed proteins in OSCC tissues and validate selected candidates at the transcript level.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional observational study, paired tumor and adjacent nontumorous tissues from 30 OSCC patients were analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Selected candidates were evaluated through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analyses included Chi-square and paired
Results:
Five candidates-dermcidin (DCD), Serpin Family B Member 1 (leukocyte elastase inhibitor) (SERPINB1), haptoglobin (HP), heat shock protein beta-1 (HSPB1), and alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) were identified. DCD, SERPINB1, HP, and HSPB1 showed significantly higher expression in tumors (
Conclusions:
Integrated proteomic and transcriptomic analyses identified five differentially expressed biomarkers in OSCC with large effect sizes and strong associations with malignancy. These findings support further investigation of DCD, SERPINB1, HP, HSPB1, and ADH1B as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in larger independent cohorts and clinically accessible samples.