Abstract:
Objective To investigate the expression characteristics of phosphorylated enhancer of Zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and their effect on chemosensitivity.
Methods Fifty-three patients with HNSCC treated between January 2018 and March 2021 in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital were selected. Expression levels of p-EZH2S21, p-STAT3Y705, HIF-1α, and Ki-67 in HNSCC tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. Western blot was used to detect p-EZH2S21 expression in HNSCC tissues and cell lines. HNSCC cell lines stably transfected with wild type (EZH2-WT) or S21 mutant EZH2 (EZH2-S21A) were constructed. CCK8 and colony formation assays were performed to detect the effect of EZH2 and S21 phosphorylation on HNSCC cell proliferation and their sensitivity to cisplatin (DDP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).
Results Elevated levels of p-EZH2S21 were observed in HNSCC tissues and positively correlated with p-STAT3Y705 (P<0.05) and HIF-1α (P<0.01) levels. p-EZH2S21 level correlated positively with lymph node metastasis (P<0.000 5), T (P<0.05), N (P<0.000 1) and AJCC stages (P<0.05). In vitro experiments confirmed that EZH2 expression promoted cell proliferation and attenuated chemosensitivity of HNSCC cells. Inhibition of p-EZH2S21 restored HNSCC cell sensitivity to DDP and 5-FU.
Conclusions p-EZH2S21 plays an important role in tumor progression in HNSCC, and phosphorylation at S21 is an important way for EZH2 to affect HNSCC cell proliferation and chemotherapy sensitivity.