Virtual screening of mutations in antioxidant genes and its putative association with HNSCC: An in silico approach

Abnormalities in the antioxidant pathway are usually associated with inflammatory conditions, followed by tissue damage. Cancer is one such disease where there is a build-up of reactive oxygen species leading to pathological consequences. The present study aims to identify the alteration in genes and proteins associated with the common antioxidant pathways among patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The study design follows a retrospective approach and employs computational tools to analyse the possible role of genes involved in the anti-oxidation pathways in patients with HNSCC. The TCGA PanCancer Atlas dataset was used for the analysis. The Oncoprint data were analysed further to obtain information on the type of gene alterations encountered in the HNSCC cases. Gene amplification and deletions were commonly observed in genes of the thiol reductase pathway, whereas substitutions leading to missense, frameshifts were found in the other pathways assessed. Gene encoding ceruloplasmin was found to harbor nucleotide variations in about 10 % of the patients with OSCC. An exhaustive knowledge of the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying the pathways identified can open new avenues in selecting candidate genes which can be used as therapeutic targets against HNSCC. The present work identifies and nominates crucial genes from the antioxidant system for further in vitro experiments.