Abstract
N-α-Acetyltransferase 10 (NAA10) was reported to be involved in tumour invasion and metastasis in several of tumours. However, the role and mechanism of NAA10-mediated invasion and metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains undetermined. Herein, our study showed that NAA10 inhibits cell migration and invasion in vitro and attenuates the xenograft tumorigenesis in nude mice. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that there is a physical interaction between NAA10 and RelA/p65 in OSCC cells, thereby preventing RelA/p65-mediated transcriptional activation of Pirh2. Consequently, inhibition of Pirh2 increased p53 level and suppressed the expression of p53 downstream targets, matrix metalloprotein-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9. Therefore, NAA10 may function as a tumour metastasis suppressor in the progression of OSCC by targeting Pirh2-p53 axis and might be a prognostic marker as well as a therapeutic target for OSCC.