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Updated: Jul 2, 2026
Modeling Oral-Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in 3D Organoids
Published on: December 23, 2022
ELOVL6 Promotes the Proliferation and Migration of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells Through Fatty Acid Remodelling
Jing You1,2,3, Liuyang Li2,3,4, Jingjing Yang2,3,4
1Department of Endodontics, The Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
Introduction:
Elongase of very long-chain fatty acids 6 (ELOVL6), a key enzyme in long-chain fatty acid elongation, has been implicated in tumour progression, but its role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear.
Methods:
In vitro experiments were performed using OSCC cell lines with ELOVL6 knockdown or over-expression and assessed with CCK-8, scratch, transwell migration and invasion assays, lipidomic profiling, immunofluorescence, and quantitative PCR.
Results:
ELOVL6 knockdown (KD-ELOVL6) significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, whereas ELOVL6 over-expression (OE-ELOVL6) enhanced these malignant phenotypes. Lipidomic analysis revealed decreased palmitic acid and increased oleic acid and other long-chain fatty acids in OE-ELOVL6 cells. Similarly, fatty acid metabolism-related genes (ACS, ACC, SCD1, and FAS) were upregulated. No significant changes in the expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers were observed. Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that ELOVL6 expression was positively correlated with intracellular ROS levels.
Conclusion:
ELOVL6 may modulate ROS levels and fatty acid metabolism rather than the endoplasmic reticulum stress, thereby affecting the proliferation and migration of OSCC cells in vitro.
