Abstract
Background
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is a common nonmelanoma skin cancer. There are limited targeted therapeutic options for treating CSCC.
Methods
This study explored the differential expression of CENPO in CSCC and its relationship with clinical prognosis via data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The CENPO gene knockdown lentivirus was constructed, and the biological function of CENPO was evaluated via CCK8 cell proliferation, scratch, invasion, and cell apoptosis experiments in vitro. Furthermore, CENPO was evaluated in vivo.
Results
The TCGA data and clinical immunohistochemical results confirmed that CENPO is significantly overexpressed in CSCC and that CENPO is upregulated with clinical grade. The CCK-8 results confirmed that cell proliferation decreased with CENPO knockdown. Scratch experiments confirmed that cell migration decreased with CENPO knockdown. The invasion experiments confirmed that the cell invasion ability decreased with CENPO knockdown. Flow cytometry experiments showed that cell apoptosis increased with CENPO knockdown. The in vivo assay results showed that the tumor growth rate significantly decreased with CENPO knockdown.
Conclusions
The proliferation, invasion, migration, and antiapoptotic ability of CSCC cells are enhanced by upregulating CENPO. The activity of CSCC cells was significantly inhibited by CENPO knockdown. CENPO could serve as a new biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of CSCC.