Investigation of the functions of ING3 gene in head and neck cancers

Among the most often diagnosed tumors worldwide are aggressive cancer forms that affect the head and neck (HNC). The 5-year survival rate for head and neck malignancies in our country is lower than the global average, despite the fact that it is about 60% worldwide. Inhibitor of growth protein (ING) family, is an important class of gene family, which consists of five genes. ING genes play a role in many biological processes. Therefore, altered expression of genes may be associated with tumorigenesis. In this thesis, we examined the relative mRNA expression of ING genes in laryngeal tumor-normal tissue pairings using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the relative protein expression of ING3 using Western Blot analysis. We investigated expressions, genetic alterations, survival data for ING family members using various online tools and established a functional protein interaction network of ING3 using STRING web portal. HNCs have a comparatively higher rate of ING3 genetic alterations. ING3 expression was significantly upregulated in larynx cancer tissue samples at both mRNA and protein level compared with normal tissue samples. Poor disease-free survival in HNC patients was likewise associated with higher expression of ING3. Additionally, co-expression study demonstrated that the important ING3-related gene EPC1 significantly linked with the expression of ING3. The findings show that ING3 is highly expressed in advanced larynx cancer cases and contributes significantly to the laryngeal carcinogenesis by exhibiting oncogenic potential. The crucial predictive importance of ING3 in patients with advanced laryngeal carcinoma demonstrates its potential for application as a biomarker.