Periostin promotes tumor growth and recruits M2 tumor-associated macrophages in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract Purpose POSTN as an ECM protein and M2-polarized TAMs exhibit pro-tumor roles. However, having little knowledge of the influence of POSTN on the proliferation of HNSCC cells and the crosstalk between POSTN and M2-skewed macrophages in HNSCC. Materials and Methods We applied the public database to analyze the association of this differential expression gene with the survival rate and CD206 in HNSCC. Through IHC staining, we further explored the protein expression of POSTN and its correlation with CD206 via linear regression analysis. We explored the effect of POSTN on the proliferation of HNSCC cells and the regulatory mechanism of POSTN for macrophages by lentivirus infection, Western blotting, CCK-8, plate clone formation assay, immunofluorescence staining, Transwell, Western blotting, and qRT-PCR experiments. Results We uncovered that the mRNA and protein expression levels of POSTN were overexpressed in HNSCC tissues and it was decreased as the survival rate elevated. We discovered the mRNA expression level of CD206 is up-regulated in HNSCC tissues, which showed a conspicuously positive correlation with POSTN in mRNA and protein levels. IHC analysis demonstrated the association between high POSTN protein expression and lymph node metastasis. Our study suggested that POSTN promoted HNSCC cell proliferation and also fostered chemotactic migration and the activation of M2 likely mediated by integrinβ3. Conclusion Our study suggested POSTN as an oncogene in tumor progression, revealed the crosstalk of it between tumor cells and macrophages probably through the interaction with integrinβ3, and emphasized the possibility of treating HNSCC by targeting POSTN or POSTN-mediated TAM recruitment.