Overexpression of cell cycle regulator CDCA3 promotes oral cancer progression by enhancing cell proliferation with prevention of G1 phase arrest

Abstract Background Cell division cycle associated 3 (CDCA3), part of the Skp1-cullin-F-box (SCF) ubiquitin ligase, refers to a trigger of mitotic entry and mediates destruction of the mitosis inhibitory kinase. Little is known about the relevance of CDCA3 to human malignancy including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We aimed to characterize the expression state and function of CDCA3 in OSCC. Methods We evaluated CDCA3 mRNA and protein expression in both OSCC-derived cell lines and primary OSCCs and performed functional analyses of CDCA3 in OSCC-derived cells using the shRNA system. Results The CDCA3 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was frequently up-regulated in all cell lines examined and primary tumors (mRNA, 51/69, 74 %; protein, 79/95, 83 %) compared to normal controls (p = 20) compared with the expression in OSCCs. Among the clinical variables analyzed, the CDCA3 expression status was closely related to tumor size (p p Cip1, p27Kip1, p15INK4B, and p16INK4A) in the knockdown cells. Conclusion The current results showed that overexpression of CDCA3 occurs frequently during oral carcinogenesis and this overexpression might be associated closely with progression of OSCCs by preventing the arrest of cell-cycle progression at the G1 phase via decreased expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors.