Hydrogen Sulfide and Hydrogen Sulfide-Synthesizing Enzymes Are Altered in a Case of Oral Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma

Adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC) constitute 1% of all head and neck malignancies and are very rare in the oral cavity. With < 60 oral ACCs described, their pathobiology is incompletely understood. Here, we report a case of oral cavity ACC in a 54-year-old woman. Since recent studies have demonstrated that several human tumors overexpress the hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S)-synthesizing enzymes cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS), cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE), and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST), and also show dysregulated H(2)S levels, we examined these biomarkers in the oral ACC and compared the results to those of adjacent benign oral epithelium. Western blotting was used to compare the protein expression of CBS, CSE, 3-MST, nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase, and mitoNEET in ACC and adjacent benign oral mucosae. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to quantify the differences in tissue H(2)S concentrations between the two biopsy types. We found that all the proteins examined here were increased in the ACC compared to adjacent benign oral mucosae. Interestingly, H(2)S concentrations were decreased approximately 30% in ACC compared to benign mucosae. Thus, in one example of this rare tumor type, the enzymes that synthesize H(2)S are increased, while tissue H(2)S levels are lower than those found in adjacent benign oral mucosae. Although limited to a single rare tumor type, to our knowledge this is the second time H(2)S concentrations have been directly quantified inside a human tumor. Last, our results may indicate that alterations in H(2)S synthesis and metabolism may be important in the pathobiology of ACC.