IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF AUTOPHAGY-RELATED PROTEINS IN ODONTOGENIC KERATOCYSTS

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology, 2020-09, Vol.130 (3), p.e246-e246
• Main Authors: MEDEIROS, Fabianna da Conceiçao Dantas de, SANTOS, Hellen Bandeira de Pontes, BATISTA, Ana Luzia Araújo, CAVALCANTE, Roberta Barroso, GORDÓN-NÚÑEZ, Manuel Antonio, ALVES, Pollianna Muniz, NONAKA, Cassiano Francisco Weege
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2212-4403; 2212-4411
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2020.04.640

Objective: To evaluate the immunoexpression of autophagy-related proteins (p62 and Atg7) in odontogenic keratocysts associated with Gorlin syndrome (SOKCs) and nonsyndromic odontogenic keratocysts (NSOKCs).Study design: The percentages of immunopositive cells (nuclear and cytoplasmic/membrane) for p62 and Atg7 in the epithelial component of 25 SOKCs and 25 NSOKCs were assessed. The results were analyzed statistically using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation test. Results: Expression of p62 and Atg7 was observed in all cases studied. Compared with NSOKCs, SOKCs exhibited higher nuclear expression of p62 (P< .001) and Atg7 (P< .001). No significant difference in the cytoplasmic/membrane expression of p62 was observed between groups (P = .594). On the other hand, SOKCs exhibited higher cytoplasmic/membrane expression of Atg7 compared with NSOKCs (P< .001). In NSOKCs, positive correlations were observed between cytoplasmic/membrane expressions of Atg7 and p62 (P = .004). In SOKCs, positive correlations were found between nuclear and cytoplasmic/membrane expressions of Atg7 and p62 (P< .05).Conclusion: The results suggest a potential role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of odontogenic keratocysts. The more aggressive biological behavior of SOKCs compared with NSOKCs may be related to increased nuclear translocation of p62 and higher cytoplasmic/membrane expression of Atg7. Financial support: CNPq (427931/2016-9).