Analysis of methylation and expression profile of MOB۱A in blood, saliva, and tissue of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and precancerous patients

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is considered the most common type of oral cavity malignancy worldwide. OSCC accounts for more than ۹۰% of all oral neoplasms. This cancer affects the lips, palate, and tongue and the average survival rate of patients is ۵ years. The most important risk factors of OSCC are alcohol and tobacco and mostly middle-aged males are affected. The hippo signaling pathway is a tumor suppressor pathway that regulates tissue growth via balancing cell proliferation, death, and differentiation. MOB۱A is a component of the hippo pathway that binds to Lats۱/۲ and may function as a tumor suppressor in human cancer cells. So, deregulation of the hippo pathway is the most common feature of solid tumors. Methods: In this research, ۱۰ different cases of MOB۱A promoter methylation status were compared with each other regarding ۲۰ healthy controls (blood and saliva samples), ۲۰ high-risk patients (blood and saliva samples), and OSCC patients (۲۰ tissue, ۱۲ blood, and saliva samples). Furthermore, the expression profile of MOB۱A was investigated in the saliva cDNA of ۱۲ healthy controls, and ۱۲ high-risk patients as well as saliva and tissue cDNA of ۱۲ patients with OSCC by Real-time PCR technique. Results: Our results showed that, among all of the investigated conditions, the only status that confirmed a significant difference was a comparison of MOB۱A methylation status in high-risk group blood and OSCC group tissue (p-value: ۰.۰۲۵). Moreover, there was no significant difference in the expression profile of MOB۱A in any of the studied conditions between the three groups. Conclusion: From the significant difference observed in the methylation status of MOB۱A in precancerous patients' blood and OSCC tissue, we may be able to conclude that the methylation status of the gene can be different in various samples. Moreover, it may be extracted from our findings that expression levels of MOB۱A in the three aforementioned groups are not affected by various types of samples.