AUTHOR=Zhu Feiya , Yang Tianru , Yao Mianfeng , Shen Ting , Fang Changyun 

TITLE=HNRNPA2B1, as a m6A Reader, Promotes Tumorigenesis and Metastasis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.716921

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.716921

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p>N6-methyladenosine (m<sup>6</sup>A) modification is the most prevalent modification on eukaryotic RNA, and the m<sup>6</sup>A modification regulators were involved in the progression of various cancers. However, the functions of m<sup>6</sup>A regulators in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remain poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that 13 of 19 m<sup>6</sup>A-related genes in OSCC tissues are dysregulated, and HNRNPA2B1 was the most prognostically important locus of the 19 m<sup>6</sup>A regulatory genes in OSCC. Moreover, HNRNPA2B1 expression is elevated in OSCC, and a high level of HNRNPA2B1 is significantly associated with poor overall survival in OSCC patients. Functional studies, combined with further analysis of the correlation between the expression of HNRNPA2B1 and the EMT-related markers from the TCGA database, reveal that silencing HNRNPA2B1 suppresses the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OSCC <italic>via</italic> EMT. Collectively, our work shows that HNRNPA2B1 may have the potential to promote carcinogenesis of OSCC by targeting EMT <italic>via</italic> the LINE-1/TGF-β1/Smad2/Slug signaling pathway and provide insight into the critical roles of HNRNPA2B1 in OSCC.</p>