AUTHOR=Mozaffari Mahmood S. , Abdelsayed Rafik 

TITLE=Expression Profiles of GILZ and SGK-1 in Potentially Malignant and Malignant Human Oral Lesions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oral Health

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oral-health/articles/10.3389/froh.2021.675288

DOI=10.3389/froh.2021.675288

ISSN=2673-4842

ABSTRACT=The glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ) and the serum-glucocorticoid-regulated kinase-1 (SGK-1) are major glucocorticoid-inducible proteins.  Recent studies indicate local production of cortisol in oral mucosa which can impact tissue generation of GILZ and SGK-1.  Further, GILZ and SGK-1 play pathogenic roles in a variety of cancers but their status in potentially malignant (e.g., epithelial dysplasia) or malignant oral lesions remains unknown.  This study tested the hypothesis that expression profiles of GILZ and SGK-1, along with the phosphorylated (active) form of SGK-1 (pSGK-1), are different in epithelial dysplasia than squamous cell carcinoma.  Accordingly, archived paraffin-embedded biopsy samples were subjected to immunohistochemistry to establish tissue localization and profile of proteins of interest while hematoxylin-eosin stained tissues were used for histopathological assessment.  Based on histopathological examinations, tissue specimens were categorized as displaying mild-moderate or severe epithelial dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma; benign keratosis specimens served as controls.  All tissue specimens showed staining for SGK-1 and pSGK-1; however, while SGK-1 staining was primarily cytoplasmic, pSGK-1 was mainly confined to the cell membrane.  On the other hand, all tissue specimens displayed primarily nuclear staining for GILZ.  Semi-quantitative analysis of immunohistochemistry staining indicates increased GILZ expression in epithelial dysplasia but reversal in squamous cell carcinoma to level seen for benign keratosis.  On the other hand, SGK-1 and pSGK-1 expressions decreased for squamous cell carcinoma specimens compared to benign keratosis or dysplastic specimens.  Collectively, in this cross-sectional study, immunostaining patterns for proteins of interest do not seemingly differentiate epithelial dysplasia from squamous cell carcinoma.  However, subcellular localization and expression profiles for GILZ, SGK-1 and pSGK-1 are suggestive of differential functional roles in dysplastic or malignant oral lesions compared to benign keratosis.