Distribution of keratins and involucrin in human fetal oral epithelia.

The presence of keratins and involucrin was studied in 9 human fetuses of an age-range between 9 and 24 weeks of gestation. The use of the monoclonal antibodies AE1 and AE3 as well as an anti-involucrin serum enabled developmental changes in the oral epithelia to be assessed. Our study detected some evidence of fetal differentiation patterns different from the adult, i.e. presence of AE3-Positive basal cells and AE1-Positive suprabasal cells in early stages of fetal development. In addition, involucrin was detected as early as 9 weeks of gestation in the superficial cells of the oral cavity epithelium. After the 15th week of gestation the differentiation markers studied gradually adopted adult-type distribution patterns.