Abstract: Objective Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common cancer with high recurrence rate, high metastasis rate and poor prognosis. This study aims to further understand the role of RABL6 in the occurrence, development and prognosis of OSCC tumors. Methods The quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of RABL6 in 37 frozen clinical samples and OSCC cells. The correlation between RABL6 expression and clinicopathologic features was assayed. The effects of RABL6 gene knockdown on the proliferation, apoptosis and migration of OSCC cells were studied by CCK-8, colony formation, flow cytometry, wound healing and transwell assay. Results Compared with the normal adjacent tissues, the OSCC tissues have higher expression level of RABL6, which is associated with poor prognosis. Compared with the normal oral keratinocytes group, the OSCC cells have higher expression level of RABL6. Knockdown of RABL6 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of OSCC cells and induced apoptosis when compared with the si-NC group. Conclusion RABL6 acts as a tumor oncogene in OSCC, which can be a potential biomarker for predicting prognosis and a new target for OSCC therapy.

Key words: oral squamous cell carcinoma, RABL6, prognosis, cell proliferation