Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Survivin is an anti-apoptotic protein which is the smallest protein within a large family of proteins including X-linked IAP, c-IAP1 and 2, IAP-like protein-2, melanoma IAP, NAIP, and Livin. Survivin is responsible for a wide range of basic cellular functions that include the cell cycle regulation, fetal development, cell migration, and tumor progression.

SOX2 is a transcription factor that is expressed by self-renewing and multipotent stem cells of the embryonic neuroepithelium. Sox-2 was found to be expressed by dividing neural progenitor cells. Constitutive expression of SOX2 has also been shown to inhibit neuronal differentiation and results in the maintenance of progenitor characteristics.

E-Cadherin is a member of the cadherin superfamily and is fundamental player in a wide range of cellular processes such as development, morphology, polarity, migration and tissue integrity. Specifically, E-cadherin is an approximately 100 kDa epithelial cell glycoprotein whose extracellular domain interacts with that of other E-cadherin molecules on adjacent cells to establish cell-cell adhesion. This adhesion is Ca^2+-dependent and a variety of interactions have been identified.