The relationship between gene expression of cytoskeletal protein genes and the epithelial-mesenchymal vimentin marker in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx

Aggressive laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is characterized by a high metastatic potential, which is closely associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Initiation of EMT is manifested by changes in the expression of some genes, including those associated with cytoskeleton reorganization. Currently, there are no effective methods for predicting metastasis in LSCC patients. In this regard, the study of SCC molecular characteristics remains relevant. In our study we assessed the relationship between the mRNA level of vimentin (VIM) and mRNA of cytoskeleton proteins: fascin-1 (FSCN1), ezrin (EZR), cofilin-1 (CFL1), profilin-1 (PFN1) and adenylyl cyclase-associated protein 1 (CAP1) in LSCC tumor tissue. The analysis was carried out using RT-PCR in paired samples from LSCC patients with and without lymph node metastases. The PFN1 mRNA level was found to be 6.3 times higher in LSCC patients with lymph node metastases than in patients without metastases. The EZR mRNA level was 17 times lower in patients with stage T3-4N0-2M0 LSCC than in patients with stage T1-2N0-1M0 LSCC. High VIM mRNA levels were associated with high FSCN1 and CAP1 mRNA levels and contributed to a stronger association between CFL1 and PFN1 mRNA levels. Thus, no direct relationship between the level of VIM as a marker of EMP and metastasis in a sample of LSCC patients was found. However, the detected relationships between the levels of cytoskeleton protein mRNA and vimentin mRNA may indicate an active reorganization of the cytoskeleton, which ensures high migration and proliferative activity of malignant cells of LSCC.