IN SILICO ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENE SETS REVEALS LY6E AS A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE GENE IN ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA (OSCC) PROGRESSION

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is mostprevalent head and neck cancerand potentially malignant in oral cavitycancer. OSCC is asymptomatic in the early stages and mostly diagnosed atlate-stage that significantly hinders successful treatment. Genetic mutations may also cause cancer development in oral cavity; however, no specific genes or markers has been identified for OSCCs progression. While a few studies have reported some molecular markers like Cyclin D1 and BCL2, the lack of specific early diagnostic and prognostic markers remains the biggest obstacle for OSCC therapy till date. This study has been designed to identify specific molecular markers for precise diagnosis and prognosis of OSCC for successful treatment. Understanding the complex molecular mechanisms involved in OSCC pathogenesis is crucial to address this challenge effectively. The study utilizes a comprehensive approach to examine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in a large OSCC dataset (GSE85195) obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Upon analysis of datasets, we found 245 common DEGs in all four stages of cancer within the dataset.Further network analysis of 245 DEGs revealed that 10 genes are highly connected based on the highest MCODE (Molecular Complex Detection) score. Among all 10 genes, LY6E geneshowed highest MOCODE value, indicatingLY6E may becritically involve in OSCC progression and act aspromising candidate biomarker. To delineate the molecular mechanism of gene regulation of LY6E, we further looked into its interactions with microRNAs (miRNAs) and transcription factors (TFs). Our findings identified certain miRNAs and TFs that may regulate LY6E expression, indicates its involvement in OSCC development.