Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Henri-Dunant Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
Faculty of Dental Medicine, Rangsit University, 52/347 Muang-Ake, Phaholyothin Road, Lak-Hok, Muang, 12000, Pathumthani, Thailand.
Head Neck Pathol. 2020 Jun;14(2):480-488. doi: 10.1007/s12105-019-01072-8. Epub 2019 Aug 31.
Claudins are integral to the structure and function of tight junctions. Altered claudin expression has been shown to affect disease behavior and patient prognosis in various neoplasms. The objectives of this study were to analyze the claudin-1, -4 and -7 expression in odontogenic tumors and characterize their expression pattern in distinct tumor cell types in relation to the recurrence potential. Sixty-nine cases of odontogenic tumors, including 43 ameloblastomas (AM), 17 adenomatoid odontogenic tumors (AOT), 6 ameloblastic fibromas (AF) and 3 ameloblastic carcinomas (AC) were investigated for claudin-1, -4 and -7 expression immunohistochemically. The staining was analyzed semi-quantitatively and categorized into 4 levels, based on the percentage of positively stained neoplastic epithelial cells. Claudin-1 was expressed in all AOT and AF cases, whereas most AC (66.7%) showed no expression. The claudin-1 staining was moderate-to-intense in the odontogenic epithelium of AF. In contrast, its staining of ameloblast-like cells and stellate reticulum-like cells in AM was weak. Claudin-7 expression was noted in all tumor types studied, while the expression of claudin-4 was limited and mainly localized in the squamous differentiated cells of AM and AC. AM showed significantly higher claudin-4, but lower claudin-7 expression than AOT. In addition, AC showed diminished claudin-1 immunoreactivity, compared to AOT. Low claudin-1 expression in AM was significantly associated with the increased clinical recurrence. The loss of claudin-1 may underlie the locally invasive nature of AM.
紧密连接的结构和功能与 Claudin 密切相关。Claudin 表达的改变已被证明会影响各种肿瘤的疾病行为和患者预后。本研究的目的是分析牙源性肿瘤中 Claudin-1、-4 和 -7 的表达，并表征其在不同肿瘤细胞类型中的表达模式与复发潜能的关系。对 69 例牙源性肿瘤（包括 43 例成釉细胞瘤（AM）、17 例腺牙源性肿瘤（AOT）、6 例成釉细胞瘤纤维瘤（AF）和 3 例成釉细胞瘤癌（AC））进行 Claudin-1、-4 和 -7 的免疫组织化学表达分析。根据阳性染色肿瘤上皮细胞的百分比，对染色进行半定量分析并分为 4 个等级。Claudin-1 在所有 AOT 和 AF 病例中均有表达，而大多数 AC（66.7%）无表达。AF 的牙源性上皮中的 Claudin-1 染色为中-强。相比之下，其在 AM 的成釉细胞样细胞和星状网状细胞样细胞中的染色较弱。Claudin-7 在所有研究的肿瘤类型中均有表达，而 Claudin-4 的表达有限，主要局限于 AM 和 AC 的鳞状分化细胞。AM 的 Claudin-4 表达显著高于 AOT，但 Claudin-7 表达较低。此外，与 AOT 相比，AC 的 Claudin-1 免疫反应性减弱。AM 中 Claudin-1 表达降低与临床复发增加显著相关。Claudin-1 的缺失可能是 AM 局部侵袭性的基础。
