TWIST and p-Akt immunoexpression in normal oral epithelium, oral dysplasia and in oral squamous cell carcinoma

• Published in: Medicina oral, patología oral y cirugía bucal patología oral y cirugía bucal, 2012-01, Vol.17 (1), p.e29-e34
• Main Authors: Silva, Bruno-Santos de Freitas, Yamamoto, Fernanda-Paula, Pontes, Flávia-Sirotheau Corrêa, Cury, Sérgio Elias-Vieira, Fonseca, Felipe-Paiva, Pontes, Hélder Antonio-Rebelo, Pinto-Júnior, Décio-dos Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - immunology; Epithelium - immunology; Female; Humans; Leukoplakia, Oral - immunology; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - immunology; Oral Medicine and Pathology; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - biosynthesis; Twist-Related Protein 1 - biosynthesis
• ISSN: 1698-6946; 1698-4447; 1698-6946
• DOI: 10.4317/medoral.17344

The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunoexpression of TWIST and p-Akt proteins in oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), correlating their expressions with the histological features of the lesions. Immunohistochemical studies were carried out on 10 normal oral epithelium, 30 OL and 20 OSCC formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples. Immunoperoxidase reactions for TWIST and p-Akt proteins were applied on the specimens and the positivity of the reactions was calculated for 1000 epithelial cells. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's post tests revealed a significant difference in TWIST and p- Akt immunoexpression among normal oral mucosa, OL and OSCC. In addition, a significant positive correlation was found between TWIST and p-Akt expressions according to the Pearson's correlation test. The results obtained in the current study suggest that TWIST and p-Akt may participate of the multi-step process of oral carcinogenesis since its early stages.