Differential proteomic expression in indolent versus transforming oral lichen planus

Abstract

Oral lichen planus (OLP) confers an approximately 1% risk of transformation to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Early identification of high‐risk OLP would be very helpful for optimal patient management. We aimed to discover specific tissue‐based protein biomarkers in patients with OLP who developed OSCC compared to those who did not. We used laser capture microdissection– and nanoLC–tandem mass spectrometry to assess protein expression in fixed lesional mucosal specimens in patients with indolent OLP (no OSCC after at least 5‐year follow‐up, n = 6), transforming OLP (non‐dysplastic epithelium with lichenoid inflammation marginal to OSCC, n = 6) or normal oral mucosa (NOM, n = 5). Transforming OLP protein profile was enriched for actin cytoskeleton, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. CA1, TNNT3, SYNM and MB were overexpressed, and FBLN1 was underexpressed in transforming OLP compared with indolent OLP. Integrin signalling and antigen presentation pathways were enriched in both indolent and transforming OLP compared with NOM. This proteomic study provides potential biomarkers, such as CA1 overexpression, for higher‐risk OLP. While further validation studies are needed, we propose that epithelial–mesenchymal transition may be involved in OLP carcinogenesis.

Differential proteomic expression profiles in vulvar lichen planus as compared to normal vulvar tissue, vulvar lichen sclerosus, or oral lichen planus: An exploratory study

“…29 TAP1 was also overexpressed in graft versus host disease. 31 While our previous work on OLP identified overexpressed immune-related proteins such as ITGB2, PTPRC and PTPRCAP that overlapped with ones identified in the present study, 13 a more detailed comparison of VLP and OLP revealed many overexpressed proteins are shared, and these proteins are involved in similar pathways, mostly relating to antigen presentation and integrin signalling.…”

“…12 OLP and NOM samples were also previously published in a study of carcinogenesis in OLP. 13 There were insufficient VLP samples associated with development of vulvar SCC to address the question of malignant transformation for VLP.…”

“…We utilized a previously published method for extracting the proteins and subjecting them to proteomics analysis. 12,13,17 In brief, 10 μm-thick sections were obtained for each patient and stained with haematoxylin-and-eosin (H&E). Unstained sections of the same thickness were mounted on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) membrane slides for laser pressure catapulting to collect tissue (Zeiss Microbeam).…”

“…We compared VLP versus NVT proteins with differential expression of 1-fold or more and FDR <0.05 against OLP versus NOM proteins (previously published) 13 with differential expression of 1-fold or TA B L E 1 Demographics of patients with vulvar lichen planus (VLP), normal vulvar tissue (NVT), vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS), oral lichen planus (OLP) and normal oral mucosa (NOM). PTPRCAP and ICAM1 (Figure 3).…”

GENEvaRX: A Novel AI-Driven Method and Web Tool Can Identify Critical Genes and Effective Drugs for Lichen Planus

“…When potential triggers are excluded, doctors prescribe treatments to manage LP and treat the symptoms. As the etiology for LP is unknown and the disease still has no cure [11, 12], researchers, mainly in biology, medicine, and computational biology domains, have attempted to describe the molecular mechanism of LP and gain biological insights, thereby speeding up the drug discovery process [13].…”