Characterization of recurrent relevant genes reveals a novel role of rpl36a in radioresistant oral squamous cell carcinoma

Radioresistance is one of the major factors that contributes to radiotherapy failure in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). By comparing the prognostic values of 20,502 genes expressed in patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)‐OSCC cohort with (n = 162) and without radiotherapy (n = 118), herein identified 297 genes positively correlated with poor disease‐free survival in OSCC patients with radiotherapy as the potential radioresistance‐associated genes. Among the potential radioresistance‐associated genes, 36 genes were upregulated in cancerous tissues relative to normal tissues. The bioinformatics analysis revealed that 60S ribosomal protein L36a (RPL36A) was the most frequently detected gene involved in radioresistance‐associated gene-mediated biological pathways. Then, two independent cohorts (n = 162 and n = 136) were assessed to confirm that higher RPL36A transcript levels were significantly associated with a poor prognosis only in OSCC patients with radiotherapy. Mechanistically, we found that knockdown of RPL36A increased radiosensitivity via sensitizing cells to DNA damage and promoted G2/M cell cycle arrest followed by augmenting the irradiation‐induced apoptosis pathway in OSCC cells. Taken together, our study supports the use of large‐scale genomic data for identifying specific radioresistance-associated genes and suggests a regulatory role for RPL36A in the development of radioresistance in OSCC.