Identification of lysine acetylome of oral squamous cell carcinoma by label-free quantitative proteomics

Abstract Background Lysine acetylation (Kac) favors gene transcription and activates various genes involved in the regulation of oncogenesis, whereas the acetylation profiling of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is unknown. We performed lysine acetylation analyses to achieve a comprehensive profile and revealed the specific pathogenesis in patients with OSCC. Methods Liquid chromatography − tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was utilized to investigate lysine acetylation features of tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues from 9 patients with OCSS. Results Among the upregulated different acetylation proteins (DAPs), the biological process of GO analysis was closely related to cellular response to regulation of apoptotic process, and regulation of programmed cell death. KEGG enrichment analysis was associated with HIF-1 signaling pathway, ferroptosis, and JAK-STAT signaling pathway. In PPI network, seven differently Kac proteins (SRSF1, HNPNPM, PRPF8, DHX9, DHX15, RBMX, SNRPG) in MCODE1 and the top 30 hub gene involved in mRNA splicing process and spliceosome pathway. Six differently Kac modified proteins of RPS15A, RPL11, RPS11, RPS3, RPL24, RPL19 in MCODE1 was enriched in ribosome pathway, particular lower expression of RPS3, RPL24 and RPL19 were related to the overall survival of OSCC. Conclusion This study contributes a foundation for understanding the functions of Kac modification in OSCC and investigates lysine acetylation on proteins involved in ribosome pathway, particularly the ones that acted as hub genes and related to the OSCC survival, which may be a potential therapeutic direction of OSCC in the future.