Evaluation of Kallikrein 14 (KLK14) in Oral Carcinomas

• Grant number: 23/16855-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Katiuchia Uzzun Sales
• Grantee: Gustavo Pereira Figueiredo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recent global estimates indicate that lip and oral cavity cancers collectively represent the 16th most common neoplasm worldwide, with approximately 355,000 new cases per year. In Brazil, oral cancer ranks eighth, with an estimated 15,100 new cases and 6,000 deaths annually. The treatment of this pathology has not improved significantly for almost 50 years, and cisplatin is still the most widely used drug in chemotherapy treatments. As a result, there is an urgent need to discover new therapeutic targets for better treatment of the neoplasm, thus ensuring a better life quality for patients.Tissue kallikreins (KLKs) are serine proteases expressed in almost all tissues of the human body, controlling important physiological processes, such as the proteolytic cascade of epithelial desquamation, and pathological ones, such as neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory diseases and cancers. As an example, we have KLK3, widely known as a prostate-specific antigen, whose aberrant expression is associated with prostate cancer. KLK14, in particular, has been found to be overexpressed in other malignant tumors, such as breast and ovarian cancer. Thus, in this project, we aim to evaluate the role of KLK14 in oral carcinoma by: (i) using the immunohistochemistry technique in lesioned and control tissues, with subsequent quantification of the results; and (ii) overexpressing KLK14 in two oral carcinoma cell lines, SCC25 and CAL27, to analyze the rates of cell migration and proliferation, comparing them to control cells.Finally, since kallikreins are extracellularly located proteins, they could become promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of this incredibly challenging disease.