Interplay between ΔNp63 and miR-138-5p regulates growth, metastasis and stemness of oral squamous cell carcinoma

TP63 acts as a master regulator in epithelia development and in the progression of various cancers, but its role in oral cancer pathogenesis remains unknown. This study aimed to explore the role of TP63 in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study shows that Delta Np63, the predominant isoform of TP63, is significantly upregulated in OSCC tissues and cell lines compared with their normal counterparts, and its expression is closely correlated with pathological differentiation, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage in patients with OSCC. The overexpression of Delta Np63 promotes growth, metastasis and stem-like properties in OSCC cells, and Delta Np63 depletion significantly represses OSCC cellular phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. The Delta Np63 isoform transcriptionally suppresses miR-138-5p expression; restoration of miR-138-5p expression partially abolishes the effect of upregulating Delta Np63. This study also demonstrates that miR-138-5p directly targets Delta Np63, resulting in crosstalk with Delta Np63. The correlation between Delta Np63 and miR-138-5p was further validated in OSCC tissues and was found to be significantly associated with the prognosis of patients with OSCC. Therefore, our data reveal that the interplay between Delta Np63 and miR-138-5p promotes OSCC progression by regulating cell growth, metastasis and stemness.