Cytokeratin patterns of human oral epithelia: Differences in cytokeratin synthesis in gingival epithelium and the adjacent alveolar mucosa |
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Authors: | Jean-Pierre Oubayoun Frederique Gosselin Nadine Forest Stefanie Winter Werner W. Franke |
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Affiliation: | Laboratoire Biologie-Odontologie, UniversitéParis VII, 2 Place Jussieu, F-75251 Pans, Cedex 05, France;Division of Membrane Biology and Biochemistry, Institute of Cell and Tumor Biology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-6900 Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany |
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Abstract: | Human oral mucosa includes various epithelia that are commonly classified as lining, masticatory, and specialized epithelia. Although adjacent tissues, the gingiva and alveolar mucosa represent two different types of epithelia: the gingiva is cornified and exhibits high rate ridges, whereas the mucosa does not normally cornify and exhibits a relatively smooth-contoured borderline between the epithelium and the underlying connective tissue. We examined the cytokeratin patterns of both epithelia using one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The gingiva expresses a great complexity of cytokeratins, including significant amounts of components nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, and 17, as well as traces of cytokeratins nos. 4 and 15, i.e., a pattern similar to those of vaginal mucosa and epidermis containing proliferative keratinocytes. In contrast, the alveolar mucosa contains only two major cytokeratins, i.e., nos. 4 and 13, together with two minor amounts of cytokeratins nos. 5, 6, 14, and 17, thus resembling the patterns of certain other stratified, noncornified epithelia, such as the esophagus. Immunofluorescence microscopy using monoclonal antibodies to cytokeratins nos. 4 and 13 revealed the presence of these proteins in the suprabasal layers of alveolar mucosa, whereas in the gingiva, only certain small, suprabasal clusters of cells appeared to contain these cytokeratins. The cytoskeletal differences between gingival and alveolar mucosa are discussed in relation to the differences in their morphology and function, and with respect to pathological processes characteristic of these epithelia. |
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