Though a direct connection between HPV infection and OAS2 expression has not yet been established, we speculate that in psoriasis and SCCHN, the classical antivirus pathway was not responsible for overexpression of OAS2. Besides the well-known antiviral function of the OAS family, OAS proteins are implicated in other cellular events such as gene induction, regulation of apoptosis, cell growth and differentiation7, 35. Here, SMOC1 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.