| PrefaceOral lichen planus (OLP) is a kind of oral mucosa noninfectious disease that has a special histological feature. Recently, some incidence of malignant change in OLP had been found.Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are biological molecules that mediate the interactions between cell-cell as well as cell-extracellular matrix. They are in related to many physiological or pathological processes. As one kind of them, Cadherin (Cad) takes an important role on cell-cell junction. E-cadherin (E-cad) is one of the main members in Cad. Their expressions were stable in normal cells, but they were unstable in cancer cells. Studies had shown that the loss of E-cad gene or the changes of E-cad function would be correlation with the incidence, invasion, and metastasis of carcinoma. But the study about the expression of E-cad in OLP had not been reported.We made use of SP immunohistochemical method on studying of the expression of E-cad in OLP for the first time, in orderto show the feature of it in OLP, as well as approach to its clinical prognosis.Material and MethodsThe 65 cases whose specimens had been diagnosed as OLP and the 12 cases whose specimens had been diagnosed as OLP with atypical hyperpiesia were selected. In addition, 13 cases of verrucous carcinoma, 10 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, and 10 cases of normal oral mucosa were also choosed for our study. Paraffin sections were cut at a 4-um thickness. 7 sections were prepared for every case. One of them was stained for H-E, others were stained with E-cad monoclonal antibody as the first antibody by means of SP immunohitochemical method. Some sections were stained with PBS instead of the first antibody for negative controls. These sections were observed under a light microscope. The expressions of E-cad on cell membrane, in cytoplasm, and in nuclei had all been paid attention to. Software of SPSS was used for our statistic analysis.ResultsIn all the normal mucosa cases, E-cad positive reactions were seen at the border between epithelial cells. The staining was very heavy on cell's membrane. And this kind of staining enlarged to the superficial layer of the epithelium. In oral verrucous carcinoma tissues, there was littleobvious difference from normal ones in superficial layer, but allotropic expression of E~cad was found in stratum spinosum. In oral squamous cell carcinoma, strong expression was found in superficial layer, while allotropic expression in cytoplasm was found in cancer cell nests infiltrated into mesenchyme, accompany with weaken or loss of staining.Varied staining patterns were seen in OLP cases. In some cases, the E-cad expression was almost the same as in normal tissues. In others, it was accompanied by negative expression in the interstitial inflammatory infiltrated lymphocytes. And in most of the cases, an allotropic expression of E~cad in cytoplasm was seen with a positive expression in the interstitial inflammatory infiltrated cells at the same time. Some positive expressions were found in the nuclei of the lymphocytes. In the tissues of OLP with atypical hyperpiesia, we saw allotropic expression of E-cad in cytoplasm.DiscussionOLP is a kind of common disease in oral mucosa. It was thought to be a benign disease before. But recently, it was found to have some malignant changes (0.4-6.51%). In our study on 65 cases of OLP and 12 cases of OLP with atypical hyperpiesia by means of immunohistochemical technique, we had found a varied E~cad expression in OLP. It was believed to be a reflection of the changes of cell-cell adhesion in OLP. And Allotropic expressions of E-cad in cytoplasm werealso observed in the epithelium of OLP with atypical hyperpiesia cases, So we considered that an allotropic expression of E-cad in OLP supported the view that OLP could have malignant changes and it was a kind of precancerosis.Allotropic expressions of E-cad in cytoplasm were also observed in stratum spinosum of oral verrucous carcinoma cases, and in cancer cell nests of oral squamous cell carcinoma. All of these... |
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