Abstract
Functional in vitro studies are fundamental to understand the role of microRNAs, small non coding RNA molecules that function as post-transcriptional regulators, in cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the applicability of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines and human oral keratinocytes as models for functional studies on microRNAs previously identified as deregulated in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. The expression level of four microRNAs was assessed in cell lines and in primary cultures of oral keratinocytes using specific real-time polymerase chain reactions. The identity of oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines was confirmed by means of STR (short tandem repeats) profiling. The possible impact of feeder-layer gene expression in global microRNA expression results from keratinocyte primary culture was also evaluated. Significant differences in microRNA gene expression were observed among squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, particularly among cells lines from distinct subsites, as well as between primary culture of human keratinocytes and immortalized keratinocyte cell lines. Primary cultures of human keratinocytes and diverse tumor cell lines are relatively easy to obtain. However, each cell model possesses a characteristic phenotype; whereas one may be useful for a specific study, it may be inappropriate for another. Therefore, it is imperative that suitable cell lines are cautiously selected for functional studies in cancer.
Highlights
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world, and over 90% of these neoplasms are squamous cell carcinomas[1,2]
Their action in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is still poorly understood, recent studies point out a relation between mirnas and the prognosis of the disease[11,12,13]
We used established cell lines as our study models, including an immortalized oral keratinocyte cell line often used as a normal cell model in the literature, and cell lines derived from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Summary
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world, and over 90% of these neoplasms are squamous cell carcinomas[1,2]. This tumor begins in the epithelium lining of the aerodigestive tract (oral cavity, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, pharynx and larynx). In silico predictions estimate that miRNAs regulate more than 30% of the protein-coding genes[10] Their action in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is still poorly understood, recent studies point out a relation between mirnas and the prognosis of the disease[11,12,13]. It is believed that understanding the role of these molecules may contribute to a better molecular characterization of the disease
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