Original Article


Centromere protein F (CENPF) is upregulated and related to tumor differentiation in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Wei Chen, Qianbo Cui, Qiong Zhang, Zhefei Zou, Suguang Sun, Kun Yuan

Abstract

Background: This study was designed to investigate the expression of centromere protein F (CENPF) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and to assess whether CENPF could be a potential biomarker for LSCC.
Methods: GEO datasets were analyzed to assess the expression of CENPF in LSCC. CENPF expression in a tissue microarray (TMA) was analyzed using composite expression score (CES). Finally, we silenced CENPF expression in Hep-2 and FaDu cells to explore its mechanism of action in LSCC.
Results: The GEO datasets and TMA revealed CENPF is upregulated in LSCC compared to normal tissues, and also in N2-N3 compared to N0-N1 LSCC. CENPF expression was associated with differentiation, prognosis and smoking, but not alcohol consumption. In vitro experiments revealed silencing CENPF significantly promoted apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in LSCC cell lines, possibly via a mechanism related to PI3K/AKT signaling.
Conclusions: CENPF is upregulated in LSCC and may represent a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for LSCC. However, the mechanisms of action of CENPF need further study.

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