Microarray gene expression profiling of cell lines from primary and metastatic tongue squamous cell carcinoma:...

To identify common gene expression patterns among two uniquely matched pairs of primary and metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines derived from the same two patient donors.

Two pairs of cell lines derived from the primary tumors and lymph node metastases of the same two patients were used to obtain microarray-based gene expression profiles. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were used to confirm observed changes for some of the candidate genes.

Approximately 50% of the genes profiled were expressed in all four cell lines. Cluster analysis identified a group of 17 genes whose expression correlated inversely with metastatic progression. Only 10 common genes were differentially expressed in both pairs of primary and metastatic cells. A group of 28 highly expressed genes was common for both metastatic cell lines, among them some of the known metastasis-related genes such as laminin receptor, thymosin beta-4 and beta-10 and metallopanstimulin.

Groups of presumed metastasis-related genes are highly heterogeneous and vary significantly between the two patients. Thus, it is unlikely that the metastatic phenotype of these OSCC cells is acquired by de-regulation of a single gene or a group of few genes. Most likely, multiple combinations of differentially expressed genes are involved in facilitating metastatic spread of these oral carcinoma cell lines.