Gene fusion is caused by the linkage of previously separate genes or sequences. Recently, an increasing number of novel fusion genes have been identified and associated with tumor progression, and several of them have been suggested as promising targets for tumor therapy. However, there are hardly any studies reporting the association of fusion genes with the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In this study, we identified a total of 11 fused genes in OSCC cells. We further analyzed the structure of one fused gene, TRIM52-RACK1, and detected its function in tumor progression in vitro. We found that TRIM52-RACK1 was caused by a deletion of 181,257,187-181,247,386 at 5q35.3 and it promoted OSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Therefore, TRIM52-RACK1 can be a promising target for tumor therapy in OSCC.

基因融合是由先前分离的基因或序列的连锁引起的。近来，已经鉴定出越来越多的新颖融合基因并​​与肿瘤进展相关，并且已经提出其中一些作为肿瘤治疗的有希望的靶标。然而，几乎没有任何研究报道融合基因与口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）的进展相关。在这项研究中，我们鉴定出OSCC细胞中共有11个融合基因。我们进一步分析了一种融合基因TRIM52-RACK1的结构，并检测了其在体外肿瘤进展中的功能。我们发现，TRIM52-RACK1是由5q35.3处181,257,187-181,247,386的缺失引起的，它促进了OSCC细胞的增殖，迁移和侵袭。因此，TRIM52-RACK1可以成为OSCC中肿瘤治疗的有希望的靶标。