The role of SIRT6 in oral cancer stem cells leading to radiation tolerance

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K19206
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 57060:Surgical dentistry-related
• Research Institution: Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute (2021-2022); Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (2019-2020)
• Principal Investigator: Sekihara Kazumasa 地方独立行政法人神奈川県立病院機構神奈川県立がんセンター(臨床研究所), 臨床研究所がん生物学部, 任期付研究員 (20761662)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: SIRT6 / 口腔がん / がん幹細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated the relationship between SIRT6 expression and radiosensitivity in oral cancer and aimed to clarify the role of SIRT6 in cancer stem cells, which is one of the potential mechanisms responsible for treatment resistance. Experiments using tissue samples from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients revealed that SIRT6 expression was significantly higher in OSCC tissue than in normal tissue, both at the protein and mRNA levels. Experiments using cell lines also showed that SIRT6 expression suppressed the effect of radiotherapy. This suggests that SIRT6 may be a potential therapeutic target for effective radiotherapy.

Free Research Field

放射線生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究において、SIRT6発現が放射線治療抵抗性に関わっているのではないかということが示唆された。SIRT6阻害が放射線感受性に及ぼす影響についてさらなる検討が必要ではあるが、口腔がんに対するより効果的な放射線治療戦略を考える上で、本研究がその基盤になると思われる。