Comparison of Ferroptosis Related Genes expression in Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Normal oral tissues

ABSTRACT Introduction Evasion of programmed cell death (PCD) is a hall mark of oncogenesis. There are different types of PCD. Iron related PCD, ferroptosis is being increasingly associated with neoplastic process. There are very few reports that investigate the role of ferroptosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC). An attempt is made to compare the ferroptosis related genes(FRGs) expression in human OSCC and normal oral tissues. Materials and Methods Gene Expression Omnibus repository was scanned for OSCC mRNA datasets along with normal control tissues. Datasets fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as that fulfilled the statistical correlation requirements were considered for this study. Differentially expressed mRNAs were identified. From the literature and ferroptosis database, FRGs were identified and those FRGs were differentially expressed were validated using The Human Cancer Genome dataset. Results In all 44 FRGs were identified to be differentially expressed between OSCC and control tissues. Of the 44, 21 were that promoted ferroptosis including 18 drivers of ferroptosis. Of the 21 FRGs that drives ferroptosis, 9 were found significantly elevated in controls while the remaining 12 were elevated in OSCC. The role of the differentially expressed FRGs were also studied. Of the 44 FRGs, 36 were validated using the human cancer genome dataset. Discussion and Conclusion Drivers and suppressors of ferroptosis were differentially expressed in OSCC and controls. This reflects that ferroptosis has a dual role in oncogenesis – both as a promoter and a suppressor. The identified specific FRGs in this studied would help to understand the role of PCD in OSCC progression and help in designing better treatment.