Aim: This study aims to perform differential protein expression analysis of serum samples from Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) patients and healthy controls in search of potential diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker(s).

Objective: OSCC is usually diagnosed late, which results in poor survival and high mortality. Identification of non-invasive prognostic biomarkers is of utmost importance for early diagnosis and proper management of the disease; hence we used a proteomic approach to identify potential biomarkers from serum.

Methods: Serum samples (OSCC n=45 and control n=30) were depleted, and proteins were separated using 2-D gel electrophoresis followed by identification by mass spectrometric analysis. Gene expression analysis of identified proteins in malignant and normal tissue was also performed to complement proteomics studies.

Results: Among differentially expressed proteins, up-regulation of heat shock protein alpha (HSP90α) from the serum of oral cancer patients was observed. We also observed elevated levels of Haptoglobin (HP) along with downregulation of Type II keratin cytoskeletal 1(KRT1) and serum albumin (ALB) in oral cancer patients. Gene expression studies on identified proteins in malignant and normal tissue revealed a similar pattern with the exception of KRT1. We believe that elevated levels of serum HSP90 alpha might be used as a potential biomarker.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a contribution of HSP90 alpha and other identified proteins in oral pathology as pro/anti-apoptotic modulators, thus considering their potential as predictive biomarkers.

目的：本研究旨在对口腔鳞状细胞癌 (OSCC) 患者和健康对照的血清样本进行差异蛋白表达分析，以寻找潜在的诊断和/或预后生物标志物。

目的：OSCC通常诊断较晚，生存率低，死亡率高。识别非侵入性预后生物标志物对于疾病的早期诊断和适当管理至关重要；因此，我们使用蛋白质组学方法从血清中识别潜在的生物标志物。

方法：去除血清样本（OSCC n=45 和对照 n=30），使用 2-D 凝胶电泳分离蛋白质，然后通过质谱分析进行鉴定。还进行了恶性和正常组织中已鉴定蛋白质的基因表达分析，以补充蛋白质组学研究。

结果：在差异表达的蛋白质中，观察到口腔癌患者血清中热休克蛋白α（HSP90α）的上调。我们还观察到口腔癌患者的触珠蛋白 (HP) 水平升高以及 II 型角蛋白细胞骨架 1 (KRT1) 和血清白蛋白 (ALB) 的下调。对恶性和正常组织中已鉴定蛋白质的基因表达研究揭示了一种类似的模式，但 KRT1 除外。我们认为血清 HSP90 α 水平升高可能用作潜在的生物标志物。

结论：我们的研究结果表明 HSP90 α 和其他已鉴定的蛋白质在口腔病理学中作为促/抗凋亡调节剂的贡献，因此考虑了它们作为预测生物标志物的潜力。