KRT4 suppresses oral squamous cell carcinoma development by reducing ATG4B-mediated autophagy

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the sixth most common tumor worldwide, half of head patients are with oral (OSCC). 300,000 new cases OSCC were reported annually. Even multi-modality treatment, prognosis remains unsatisfactory. Thus, it urgent to discover novel therapeutic targets for OSCC. Some microarray studies have revealed that Keratin 4 (KRT4) downregulated in OSCC, whereas its role development unknown. The present study KRT4 suppressed progression by inducing apoptosis inhibiting invasion. In addition, over-expression inhibited autophagy blocking interaction autophagy-related 4B cysteine peptidase (ATG4B) microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 (LC3) regulate invasion conclusion, played an important through regulating ATG4B-mediated may be a drug target