Abstract:

Objective To systematically evaluate the expression pattern and clinical significance of collagen type Ⅺ alpha 1 chain (COL11A1) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and to explore its potential role in tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation based on bioinformatics analysis. Methods A total of 80 OSCC tissue samples from our hospital were collected, and immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression level of COL11A1 and its clinical relevance. Public databases, including TCGA-HNSC, TISCH2, TIMER, and cBioPortal, were further utilized to explore the potential functions of COL11A1 in OSCC, involving differential expression analysis, Reactome pathway enrichment analysis, and immune cell infiltration evaluation. Results COL11A1 was predominantly expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) within OSCC tissues, with the highest levels observed at the invasive front. High COL11A1 expression was significantly associated with larger tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and shorter disease-free survival (P<0.05). Reactome enrichment analysis indicated that COL11A1 was involved in key biological processes including amino acid metabolism, selenocysteine biosynthesis, and protein translation, and was also closely related to TME remodeling. Further analysis showed that high COL11A1 expression was negatively correlated with CD8⁺ T cell infiltration (P<0.05), and positively correlated with the expression of multiple immunosuppressive molecules, including CD86, CSF1R, HAVCR2, IL10, and PDCD1LG2 (P<0.05). Conclusion COL11A1 is expressed in CAFs in OSCC and is upregulated at the invasive front, showing strong associations with poor patient prognosis and immunosuppressive features, suggesting its potential as a prognostic marker and therapeutic targe.

Key words: oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC), cancer-associated fibroblasts, collagen type Ⅺ alpha 1 chain, tumor microenvironment