High expression of TRMT112 is associated with the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: TRMT112 is a member of the transfer RNA (tRNA) methyltransferase family, and its dysregulation in humans is involved in carcinogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of TRMT112 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Materials and methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western blot were used to analyze TRMT112 expression in paired tumor and non-tumor tissues of OSCC. Furthermore, we analyzed TRMT112 expression for clinicopathological features, prognosis, immune infiltration, and immunotherapy response using the TCGA-HNSCC datasets, which primarily include OSCC data through UALCAN, Human Protein Atlas, Kaplan-Meier plots, and TIMER2.0. The oncogenic role and mechanism of TRMT112 were analyzed using a functional enrichment approach. Results: TRMT112 expression was significantly upregulated in OSCC tissues compared to non-tumor tissues. The upregulated expression of TRMT112 was associated with advanced tumor stages, metastasis, lower immune infiltrating levels, immunotherapy resistance, and worse prognosis. Protein network and functional pathway enrichment analysis revealed that TRMT112 interacts with well-known oncoproteins that play a critical role in oral cancer progression. Conclusions: Overall, our novel findings revealed that TRMT112 is associated with the oncogenic process of OSCC, which suggests that TRMT112 could serve as a potential prognostic and therapeutic candidate.