NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance

Oral cancer is a major public health burden worldwide. The lack of biomarkers for early diagnosis has increased the difficulty in managing this disease. Recent studies have reported that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a secreted glycoprotein, is upregulated in various tumors. In...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Monisha, J., Roy, N., Padmavathi, G., Banik, K., Bordoloi, D., Khwairakpam, A., Arfuso, Frank, Chinnathambi, A., Alahmadi, T., Alharbi, S., Sethi, G., Kumar, Alan Prem, Kunnumakkara, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: MDPI AG 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69886
_version_ 1848762159586082816
author Monisha, J.
Roy, N.
Padmavathi, G.
Banik, K.
Bordoloi, D.
Khwairakpam, A.
Arfuso, Frank
Chinnathambi, A.
Alahmadi, T.
Alharbi, S.
Sethi, G.
Kumar, Alan Prem
Kunnumakkara, A.
author_facet Monisha, J.
Roy, N.
Padmavathi, G.
Banik, K.
Bordoloi, D.
Khwairakpam, A.
Arfuso, Frank
Chinnathambi, A.
Alahmadi, T.
Alharbi, S.
Sethi, G.
Kumar, Alan Prem
Kunnumakkara, A.
author_sort Monisha, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Oral cancer is a major public health burden worldwide. The lack of biomarkers for early diagnosis has increased the difficulty in managing this disease. Recent studies have reported that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a secreted glycoprotein, is upregulated in various tumors. In our study, we found that NGAL was significantly downregulated in primary malignant and metastatic tissues of oral cancer in comparison to normal tissues. The downregulation of NGAL was strongly correlated with both degree of differentiation and stage (I–IV); it can also serve as a prognostic biomarker for oral cancer. Additionally, tobacco carcinogens were found to be involved in the downregulation of NGAL. Mechanistic studies revealed that knockdown of NGAL increased oral cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration; it also induced resistance against cisplatin. Silencing of NGAL activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)signaling and reduced autophagy by the liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-p53-Redd1 signaling axis. Moreover, cyclin-D1, Bcl-2, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were upregulated, and caspase-9 was downregulated, suggesting that silencing of NGAL increases oral cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Thus, from our study, it is evident that downregulation of NGAL activates the mTOR pathway and helps in the progression of oral cancer.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:43:08Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-69886
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:43:08Z
publishDate 2018
publisher MDPI AG
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-698862018-08-22T04:42:44Z NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance Monisha, J. Roy, N. Padmavathi, G. Banik, K. Bordoloi, D. Khwairakpam, A. Arfuso, Frank Chinnathambi, A. Alahmadi, T. Alharbi, S. Sethi, G. Kumar, Alan Prem Kunnumakkara, A. Oral cancer is a major public health burden worldwide. The lack of biomarkers for early diagnosis has increased the difficulty in managing this disease. Recent studies have reported that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a secreted glycoprotein, is upregulated in various tumors. In our study, we found that NGAL was significantly downregulated in primary malignant and metastatic tissues of oral cancer in comparison to normal tissues. The downregulation of NGAL was strongly correlated with both degree of differentiation and stage (I–IV); it can also serve as a prognostic biomarker for oral cancer. Additionally, tobacco carcinogens were found to be involved in the downregulation of NGAL. Mechanistic studies revealed that knockdown of NGAL increased oral cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration; it also induced resistance against cisplatin. Silencing of NGAL activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)signaling and reduced autophagy by the liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-p53-Redd1 signaling axis. Moreover, cyclin-D1, Bcl-2, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were upregulated, and caspase-9 was downregulated, suggesting that silencing of NGAL increases oral cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Thus, from our study, it is evident that downregulation of NGAL activates the mTOR pathway and helps in the progression of oral cancer. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69886 10.3390/cancers10070228 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI AG fulltext
spellingShingle Monisha, J.
Roy, N.
Padmavathi, G.
Banik, K.
Bordoloi, D.
Khwairakpam, A.
Arfuso, Frank
Chinnathambi, A.
Alahmadi, T.
Alharbi, S.
Sethi, G.
Kumar, Alan Prem
Kunnumakkara, A.
NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
title NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
title_full NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
title_fullStr NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
title_full_unstemmed NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
title_short NGAL is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
title_sort ngal is downregulated in oral squamous cell carcinoma and leads to increased survival, proliferation, migration and chemoresistance
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69886