Bio-Informatic Analysis of Protein Kinase-C in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Through Network Topology: An In-Silico Study

Background: Protein Kinase C (PKC) is a family of serine/threonine kinases that regulate diverse signalling pathways involved in cancer development, including Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC). This study aims to investigate the molecular interaction network of PKC in OSCC, identify potential drug targets through pan-drug analysis and evaluate therapeutic candidates using molecular docking. Materials and Methods: Gene and protein sequence data related to PKC and OSCC were obtained from publicly available databases. Overlapping targets were identified and used to construct a Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network using STRING and Cytoscape. Functional enrichment and network topology analyses identified key hub genes. Drug-gene interactions were analysed using PanDrugs and the top-ranked drug, CETUXIMAB, was subjected to molecular docking against PKC Alpha (PRKCA) using AutoDock Vina. Ligand-protein interactions were evaluated for binding affinity and hydrogen bonding. Results: Out of 4945 OSCC-associated and 101 PKC-related genes, 64 common targets were identified. EGFR, ERBB2 and PIK3CA were key hubs in the PPI network. CETUXIMAB showed the highest DScore (1), targeting multiple oncogenic proteins including PRKCA. Docking analysis revealed a binding energy of -5.9 kcal/mol with three hydrogen bonds at Val A:420, Val A:353 and Asp A:481, indicating strong interaction. Conclusion: This in-silico study highlights the role of PKC in OSCC and identifies CETUXIMAB as a promising therapeutic candidate for repurposing. The findings support further experimental and clinical validation to explore PKC-targeted interventions in oral cancer.