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Updated: Jul 10, 2026
Comparative Lesions Analysis Through a Targeted Sequencing Approach
Published on: November 5, 2019
Alterations of GPI transamidase subunits in head and neck squamous carcinoma
Wei-Wen Jiang1, Marianna Zahurak, Zeng-Tong Zhou
1Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Head and Neck Cancer Research Division, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 601 N. Caroline Street, 6th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21287-0910, USA. wwjiang33@hotmail.com
Background:
GPI anchor attachment is catalyzed by the GPI transamidase (GPIT) complex. GAA1, PIG-T and PIG-U are the three of five GPIT subunits. Previous studies demonstrated amplification and overexpression of GPIT subunits in bladder and breast cancer with oncogenic function. We performed an analysis of these subunits in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Results:
To evaluate GAA1, PIG-T and PIG-U in HNSCC, we used quantitative PCR (QPCR) and quantitative RT-PCR (QRT-PCR) to determine the copy number of those genes in primary tumors and the matching lymphocytes in 28 patients with HNSCC and quantified RNA expression of those genes in 16 primary HNSCC patients and 4 normal control tissue samples. GAA1 showed a significant increase in normalized mRNA expression, 2.11 (95% CI: 1.43, 2.79), in comparison to that of normal controls, 0.43 (95% CI: -0.76, 1.61), p = 0.014 (Mann-Whitney test). The mean genomic copy number of GAA1 was significantly increased in HNSCC, 0.59 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.79), in comparison to lymphocyte DNA, 0.35 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.50), p = 0.001 (paired t-test).
Conclusion:
An increased expression level and elevated copy number for GAA1 suggest a role for this GPI anchor subunit in HNSCC.
