Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
Tissue Barriers. 2023 Apr 3;11(2):2084320. doi: 10.1080/21688370.2022.2084320. Epub 2022 Jun 5.
The oral cavity is directly exposed to a variety of environmental stimuli and contains a diverse microbiome that continuously interacts with the oral epithelium. Therefore, establishment and maintenance of the barrier function of the oral mucosa is of paramount importance for its function and for the body's overall health. The adherens junction is a cell-cell adhesion complex that is essential for epithelial barrier function. Although a considerable body of work has associated barrier disruption with oral diseases, the molecular underpinnings of these associations have not been equally investigated. This is critical, since adherens junction components also possess significant signaling roles in the cell, in addition to their architectural ones. Here, we summarize current knowledge involving adherens junction components in oral pathologies, such as cancer and oral pathogen-related diseases, while we also discuss gaps in the knowledge and opportunities for future investigation of the relationship between adherens junctions and oral diseases.
口腔直接暴露于各种环境刺激物中，并且含有与口腔上皮不断相互作用的多样微生物组。因此，口腔黏膜屏障功能的建立和维持对于其功能和全身健康至关重要。黏着连接是细胞-细胞黏附复合物，对于上皮屏障功能至关重要。尽管大量研究将屏障破坏与口腔疾病相关联，但这些关联的分子基础尚未得到同等研究。这很关键，因为黏着连接成分除了具有结构作用外，在细胞中还具有重要的信号作用。在这里，我们总结了黏着连接成分在口腔病理学（如癌症和与口腔病原体相关的疾病）中的现有知识，同时还讨论了该领域知识中的空白以及未来研究黏着连接与口腔疾病之间关系的机会。
