McGuinness CB, White SR, Gray EV, Leonard MV, Teng Y, Shull AY. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor CHRNA5 is overexpressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients with a recent tobacco smoking history.
MicroPubl Biol 2024;
2024:10.17912/micropub.biology.001098. [PMID:
38371320 PMCID:
PMC10873754 DOI:
10.17912/micropub.biology.001098]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Tobacco smoking is a major driver of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) occurrence, and previous studies have shed light on the precise molecular alterations in tobacco-related HNSCCs when compared to HNSCCs associated with other risk factors (ex: human papillomavirus/HPV status). In this study, we analyzed the gene expression differences in HNSCC cases with a recent smoking history and revealed that the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor CHRNA5 is differentially overexpressed in smoking-related HNSCCs. CHRNA5 overexpression in these HNSCCs corresponds with a worse prognosis and is inversely correlated with an immune expression signature commonly associated with better prognosis. From these results, our study highlights the potential role of the nicotine-activated CHRNA5 receptor in HNSCC progression and corresponds with other recent reports highlighting the potential role of nicotine induction in promoting cancer progression.
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