Expression of E-cadherin in oral lichen planus

Abstract

Abstract. Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common lesion of the oral mucosa that can progress to cancer. E-cadherin is involved in intercellular adherence and the pathogenesis, development and metastasis of tumors, and is considered to be an important indicator of tumor progression and prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of E-cadherin in OLP in order to elucidate its role in the pathogenesis and malignant transformation of OLP and provide evidence to support the early diagnosis and treatment of OLP with malignant potential. OLP specimens (n=52) and samples of normal oral mucosa (n=41) as the control were collected. Immunohistochemical staining was conducted to reveal the expression of E-cadherin in the OLP samples and normal oral mucosa. It was observed that 25 of the 52 OLP specimens exhibited normal positive expression of E-cadherin and 27 exhibited abnormal positive expression, corresponding to an abnormal positive rate of 51.92%. In the normal oral mucosa group, 39 of the 41 cases exhibited normal positive expression and 2 exhibited abnormal positive expression. The abnormal positive rate in the normal oral mucosa was 4.88%, which was significantly lower than that in the OLP group. The significantly elevated rate of abnormal positive expression of E-cadherin in the OLP group indicates the involvement of E-cadherin in the malignant transformation of OLP and supports the malignant potential of OLP.

The cellular character of liquefaction degeneration in oral lichen planus and the role of interferon gamma

“…12 Downregulation of E-cadherin is considered as one of the hallmarks of EMT; meanwhile, mesenchymal molecular markers, such as vimentin and fibronectin, are up-regulated. 13,14 In the present study, we observed decreased E-cadherin and increased vimentin expression in basal region of OLP lesion, which is consists in previous study, 15 which first described the nature of the liquefaction degeneration in OLP is an EMT. Moreover, the epithelial cells undergoing EMT were prone to express CK19, b1 integrin, and nestin, sharing some characters of cancer stem cell, which was considered as the roots of cancer.…”

Markers of Oral Lichen Planus Malignant Transformation

“…Thus, 51.9% of the OLP patients had an abnormal positive expression of E-cadherin compared to only 4.8% of healthy controls. Based on the results of various studies in which E-cadherin expression was associated with the development of malignancies, it has been suggested that E-cadherin may be a marker of malignant transformation of OLP [ 134 ]. Sridevi et al analyzed the expression of E-cadherin in several diseases of the oral cavity, oral submucosal fibrosis, oral leukoplakia, OLP, and OSCC.…”

Analysis of DNA methylation of E‐cadherin and p16ink4a in oral lichen planus/oral lichenoid lesions

“…The reduction of p16 ink4a promotes cell growth and often contributes to malignant transformation (Kato et al, 2006). Although E‐cadherin hypermethylation in OLP not been demonstrated so far, aberrant immunohistochemical staining of E‐cadherin was reported (Du & Li, 2015). Loss of membrane expression and decreased expression levels of E‐cadherin were observed in OLP (Sridevi et al, 2015).…”

“…Hypermethylation results in the downregulated expression of the gene. We believe that hypermethylation may cause the aberrant expression of E‐cadherin, which has been linked to malignancy in OLP (Du & Li, 2015). Thus, the involvement of aberrant E‐cadherin expression in the pathogenesis of OLP should not be ruled out.…”