Elevated N-myristoyltransferase activity and expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) catalyzes the myristoylation of proteins involved in signal transduction, cellular transformation, differentiation, proliferation and oncogenesis. In this study, we report for the first time on the elevated NMT activity in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Increased activity is marked with increased staining for NMT in the OSCC samples compared to the normal adjacent tissues. In addition, we observed increased staining for the N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor protein 71 (NIP71) in the OSCC samples compared to the control tissues. These findings suggest the regulatory relationship between NMT and NIP71 during tumorigenesis. It is possible that the increased activity results in the overexpression of NIP71 in an effort to control NMT activity.