Identification of MMP1 and MMP2 by RNA-seq analysis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Abstract

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the most common histologic subtype of laryngeal cancer characterized by a poor prognosis. Determining gene expression changes in LSCC should improve our understanding of putative risk factors and provide potential targets for therapy. To assess differential gene expression between LSCC tissue and paired normal laryngeal tissue, and to provide gene targets for future studies of this type of laryngeal cancer. Three paired-sample groups (tumor and normal tissue) from patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). The six cDNA libraries generated raw reads ranging from 15,195,586 to 21,443,488 counts. Changes in gene expression levels were determined in 40,205 of these counts, with 18,466 deferentially expressed genes in all three groups. Compared to normal tissue, the expression levels of MMP1 and MMP2 increased significantly in tumor tissue of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Whole transcriptome sequencing revealed that MMP1 and MMP2 are highly expressed in LSCC. These genes may be useful both as biomarkers for LSCC diagnosis and as targets for therapy, as well as for increasing our understanding of LSCC tumorigenesis.