Mackenzie I C, Dabelsteen E, Rittman G, Junggren L, Toh H
Dental Branch, University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, USA.
Anat Rec. 1995 Mar;241(3):310-8. doi: 10.1002/ar.1092410304.
The junctional epithelium (JE) attaches the gingiva to the non-vital tooth surface and has other unusual properties which protect the underlying periodontal tissues. The JE differs from other gingival and oral epithelia in its unusual expression of cytokeratins typical of both stratifying and of simple epithelia, a phenotypic pattern possibly related to its specialized functions.
The patterns of differentiation of rodent gingival and other epithelia were examined using monoclonal antibodies against various glycoconjugates which are expressed on epithelial cell surfaces and provide an alternative marker system for regionally-differing patterns of cell maturation.
Markers that are typical of basal cells in other stratifying epithelia were expressed by all cell strata of JE. JE lacked differentiation markers typical of other stratifying oral epithelial but showed suprabasal expression of markers typically expressed by simple epithelia and specialized epithelia, such as taste buds.
The phenotype of rodent JE differs from that of other oral epithelia and the pattern of differentiation assessed by its expression of glycoconjugates parallels that for other phenotypic markers, such as cytokeratins. Differentiation of rodent JE is similar to that of human JE. The functional significance of these patterns of expression is not yet clear but the markers characterizing this unusual epithelium in rodents may be associated with its behavior in periodontal disease and of value to experimental studies of its development.
结合上皮（JE）将牙龈附着于无活力的牙面，且具有保护其下方牙周组织的其他特殊性质。JE在表达典型的分层上皮和单层上皮细胞角蛋白方面不同于其他牙龈和口腔上皮，这种表型模式可能与其特殊功能有关。
使用针对各种糖缀合物的单克隆抗体检查啮齿动物牙龈和其他上皮的分化模式，这些糖缀合物表达于上皮细胞表面，并为区域不同的细胞成熟模式提供了另一种标记系统。
JE的所有细胞层均表达其他分层上皮中典型的基底细胞标记物。JE缺乏其他分层口腔上皮典型的分化标记物，但显示出单层上皮和特殊上皮（如味蕾）典型表达的标记物在基底上层的表达。
啮齿动物JE的表型不同于其他口腔上皮，通过其糖缀合物表达评估的分化模式与其他表型标记物（如细胞角蛋白）的模式相似。啮齿动物JE的分化与人类JE相似。这些表达模式的功能意义尚不清楚，但表征啮齿动物这种特殊上皮的标记物可能与其在牙周疾病中的行为有关，并对其发育的实验研究有价值。
