Pan-Cancer Analyses of the Tumor Microenvironment Reveal That Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme E2C Might Be a Potential Immunotherapy Target.

Increasing evidence indicated that the tumor microenvironment (TME) played a crucial role in cancer initiation and progression. Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2C (UBE2C) was differentially expressed in many cancer types. However, the immunological and prognostic roles of UBE2C were unclear. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of 29 cancer types were downloaded from GEPIA2 and 4 cancer types failed to download owing to no DEGs. Furthermore, the gene expression profiles, mutation data, and survival data of 33 cancer types were obtained from UCSC Xena. Clinical stage relevance, tumor mutational burden (TMB), TME relevance analysis, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of DEGs in 33 cancer types were performed. And DEGs were identified in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) by biological experiments. Previous studies indicated that UBE2C was related to the prognosis of many cancers. In our study, the higher UBE2C expression level meant a terminal clinical stage in 8 cancer types and the expression level of UBE2C was related to TMB in 20 cancer types. In addition, both immune relevance analysis and GSEA showed that UBE2C might participate in immune response in many cancers. Furthermore, the UBE2C mRNA level and protein level were all identified as upregulated in OSCC cell lines and tissues. UBE2C was differentially expressed in many cancer types and related to the pathogenesis and TME of many cancers, which might be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker.

Bioinformatics Analyses Indicate That Cathepsin G (CTSG) is a Potential Immune-Related Biomarker in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC).

PURPOSE: Plenty of studies showed that the immune system was associated with cancer initiation and progression. This study aimed to explore the prognostic biomarkers from immune-related genes (IRGs) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: RNA-seq data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and IRGs and transcription factors (TFs) were extracted. Then, the co-expression network between IRGs and TFs was constructed using the "WGCNA" package in R software. Furthermore, a gene expression signature according to IRGs was constructed to predict OSCC prognosis and its accuracy was validated by survival analysis. Subsequently, correlation analyses between risk-score and immune cells level and clinical parameters were performed. Finally, immune-related biomarkers were selected and further investigated using gain-of-function assays in vitro. RESULTS: A total of 32 normal cases and 317 OSCC cases were selected in our study. Differentially-expressed analysis indicated that there were 381 differentially-expressed IRGs and 62 TFs in OSCC. Among them, 25 TFs and 21 IRGs were enrolled in the co-expression network. Furthermore, we found that gene expression signature on the basis of 10 IRGs could predict the prognosis accurately and a high-risk score based on gene expression signature meant a high T classification, terminal clinical stage, and low immune cells level in OSCC. Finally, cathepsin G (CTSG) was identified as a potential immune-related biomarker and therapeutic target in OSCC. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, IRGs were directly involved in the development and progression of OSCC. Furthermore, CTSG was identified as a potential independent biomarker and might be an immunotherapeutic target in OSCC treatment.

[Clinical application of micro-implant anchorage for treatment of scissors bite on one-side posterior teeth].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficiency of micro-implant anchorage (MIA) for posterior teeth intruded and the result of the treatment of scissors bite on one-side posterior teeth. METHODS: The study included 3 females and 1 male. All the overextruding upper posterior teeth were intruded by the MIA. The micro-implant screws were inserted into the buccal and lingual alveolar hone of the maxillary posterior teeth or the buccal alveolar hone of mandibular posterior teeth. About 0.833 N force was used to intrude the overgrowthing upper posterior teeth, and about 0.559 N force was used to draw buecally the low posterior teeth tilting lingually. RESULTS: The overextruding upper posterior teeth were intruded 2.0 mm on average, the low posterior teeth tilting lingually were upreared buccally. All the MIA screws kept stable during the treatment, but there was a slight inflammation around the implant screws. CONCLUSION: MIA could be used as an efficient method to correct scissors bite on one-side posterior teeth with intruding overgrowth upper posterior teeth, or uprearing buccally the tilting low posterior teeth.