The Effect of Blocking the Expression of TGF-b and MMP-2 mRNA on Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells

Purpose: TGF-¥â1 and MMP-2 are expressed in oral cancer, but the definite correlation to other genes has not been made of their expression patterns. This is important, because the presence or the absence of one may alter the effect, production, and/or expression of another. Thus, we studied the blocking effects of TGF-¥â1 and MMP-2 in oral SCC cell line. Materials and method: SCC-9 cell line was used for this experiment. Oligonucleotides were designed on the base of two-dimensional structure of TGF-¥â1 and MMP-2 and synthesized using phosphorothioate. The antisense blocking was confirmed with RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE, and western blotting. The cDNA from samples were analyzed with the cDNA microarray technique. Results: The effects of antisense treatment were confirmed by RT-PCR and western blotting. The FAT tumor suppressor homolog 2, natrural killer cell receptor, tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, BMP-5, collagen (type IV, alpha 1), and FGFR3 were upregulated while the BarH-like homeobox 2, DEK oncogene, FGFR2, TGF-a were down-regulated after TGF-¥â1 antisense treatment. The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4, transcription factor AP-2 alpha, IL-11Ra, MHC (class II, DP beta 1), CD53 antigen, CD5 antigen, and complement component 4B were upregulated, but the integrin a6, caspase 6, caspase 5, and EGFR were down-regulated after MMP-2 antisense treatment. Conclusion: The blocking of TGF-¥â1 and MMP-2 altered the expression of genes that are potentially implicated in carcinogenesis as well as others not previously linked to the expression of TGF-¥â1 and MMP-2. Further investigations of these genes is needed to determine the clinical relevance and possible therapeutic utility.