PKMYT1 regulates the proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells by targeting CCNA2

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has gradually become a global public health issue in recent years. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the mechanism of OSCC development and to identify a potential target that may be used in its treatment. The expression of protein kinase, membrane-associated tyrosine/threonine 1 (PKMYT1) and cyclin A2 (CCNA2) in SCC-9 cells was determined prior to and following transfection with short hairpin RNA targeting PKMYT1. Cell proliferation, colony-forming ability, migration and invasion were determined using Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. Furthermore, the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)- and migration-related proteins were evaluated using western blot analysis. Additionally, co-immunoprecipitation was used to verify the binding of PKMYT1 and CCNA2. The results revealed that PKMYT1 was highly expressed in OSCC cells and that PKMYT1 knockdown could inhibit proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion, EMT and CCNA2 expression in SCC-9 cells. In addition, PKMYT1 was demonstrated to bind to CCNA2, and knocking down PKMYT1 resulted in inhibitory effects on cell proliferation, colony formation ability, migration, invasion and EMT by downregulating CCNA2 expression. PKMYT1 was observed to regulate the proliferation, migration and EMT of OSCC cells by targeting CCNA2, which may be used in the future to improve OSCC treatment.