Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Abstract
The use of EGFR inhibitors on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as monotherapy yielded modest clinical outcomes and therefore would benefit from biomarkers that could predict which patient subsets are likely to respond. Here, we determined the efficacy of erlotinib in OSCC cell lines, and by comparing sensitive and resistant lines to identify potential biomarkers. We focused on the 4717C > G polymorphism in periplakin (PPL) where the CC genotype was associated with erlotinib resistance. To validate this, erlotinib-resistant cell lines harbouring CC genotype were engineered to overexpress the GG genotype and vice versa. Isogenic cell lines were then studied for their response to erlotinib treatment. We demonstrated that overexpression of the GG genotype in erlotinib-resistant lines sensitized them to erlotinib and inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. Similarly, the expression of the CC genotype conferred resistance to erlotinib with a concomitant increase in AKT phosphorylation. We also demonstrated that cell lines with the CC genotype generally are more resistant to other EGFR inhibitors than those with the GG genotype. Overall, we showed that a specific polymorphism in the PPL gene could confer resistance to erlotinib and other EGFR inhibitors and further work to evaluate these as biomarkers of response is warranted.
Keywords
EGFR inhibitors, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), polymorphism, periplakin
Divisions
GeneralDentalPracticeAndOralMaxillofacialImaging
Publication Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
9
Publisher
Nature Research