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Gene & Protein in Disease Pre-metastatic niche oral cancer: Insights

in ways that promote tumor growth. Natural killer cells, Acknowledgments
for example, can be influenced by circadian rhythm, as the
downregulation of circadian genes has been shown to affect None.
the secretion of key cytotoxic proteins such as granzymes Funding
and perforins. In addition, sleep disturbances can elevate
35
plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines, which are crucial This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de
in immune cell communication. 34,36,37 Both innate and Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil
adaptive immune cells, such as macrophages, dendritic (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.
cells, and B cells, exhibit circadian clock gene expression Conflict of interest
patterns, indicating that immune function may be closely
tied to circadian rhythm.38 Leukocyte subsets also appear The authors declare they have no competing interests.
to adhere to a circadian pattern, demonstrating time-of-
day-dependent migration to different organs. 38,39 Author contributions
Axon guidance signaling is also associated with Conceptualization: All authors
circadian rhythm, although this relationship has yet to Formal analysis: All authors
be thoroughly explored in cancer contexts. The axon‐ Investigation: All authors
guidance roundabout gene has been shown to alter the pace Methodology: All authors
of the Drosophila circadian clock. 29,30 In primary tumor Writing – original draft: All authors
Writing – review & editing: All authors
samples, genes such as SERPENE1, L1CAM, CXCR4, and
SPP1 facilitate cell-matrix interactions that promote tumor Ethics approval and consent to participate
progression. These genes – SERPENE1, CXCR4, L1CAM,
and SPP1 – are multifunctional cytokines that regulate cell Not applicable.
proliferation, survival, drug resistance, invasion, and stem- Consent for publication
like behavior. 23,40 Our findings indicate that these genes are
downregulated in metastatic lymph node samples and are Not applicable.
associated with poor prognosis. On the other hand, CXCR4
overexpression was associated with improved OSCC Availability of data
prognosis. The CXCL12/CXCR4 pathway was implicated in The data supporting this meta-analysis were derived
the metastatic niche, as CXCL12 can attract CXC4+ tumor from GEO DataSets (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gds).
cells. This signaling axis is also involved in the mobilization The processed data are available upon request from the
of hematopoietic stem cells and the establishment of a pre- corresponding author.
metastatic niche for cancer cells.36 Furthermore, CXCL12/
CXCR4 signaling has been shown to contribute to tumor Further disclosure
cell proliferation and angiogenesis. The version of this article is deposited in the repository of
the Federal University of Alagoas (https://ud10.arapiraca.
5. Conclusion ufal.br/repositorio/publicacoes/3541).

In summary, our findings suggest that during lymph node
invasion, axonal guidance genes, such as SERPENE1, References
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Volume 3 Issue 4 (2024) 20 doi: 10.36922/gpd.2971