The role of H3K9me3 in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Carcinogenesis is often associated with alteration of epigenetic marks, including histone modifications. The global level and local distribution of specific histone modifications have been revealed to be prognostic factors in many cancers. However, the functional roles of histone modifications in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remain unclear. This study investigates the levels of various histone modifications in 6 types of OSCC cell lines. We found that the level of H3K9me3 was significantly high in metastatic cell lines. In addition, the loss of H3K9me3 by SUV39H1 and SUV39H2 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and cell migration. Our results indicate that a high level of H3K9me3 could be a marker of metastasis and possibly a therapeutic target for OSCC treatment. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Carcinogenesis is often associated with alterations in histone modifications. This study investigated the levels of various histone modifications in different types of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines and found that a high level of H3K9me3 could be a marker of metastasis. Additionally, suppressing H3K9me3 through knockdown of SUV39H1 and SUV39H2 inhibited cell proliferation and migration, suggesting H3K9me3 as a potential therapeutic target for OSCC treatment.