Expression of muscle-specific integrins in masseter muscle fibers during malocclusion disease

Abstract

Abstract.Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface membrane proteins linking the extracellular matrix to actin. α7B integrin is detected in proliferating and adult myofibers, whereas α7A plays a role in regenerating muscle fibers with a minor function in mature muscle fibers. The expression levels of β1A appear to be very low, whereas β1D appears to be the predominant integrin form in mature muscle. Considering the important features of masseter muscle we have studied integrin expression in masseter muscle specimens of surgical patients with posterior right crossbite and comparing them to left side masseter muscle specimens. Our results showed that the expression of integrins was significantly lower in the crossbite side muscle. Furthermore, the most important finding is that β1A is clearly detectable in adult masseter muscle. This behavior could be due to the particular composition of masseter, since it contains hybrid fibers showing the capacity to modify the contractile properties to optimize the energy efficiency or the action of the muscle during contraction. Moreover, masseter is characterized by a high turnover of muscle fibers producing a regeneration process. This may indicate a longer time to heal, justifying the loss of β1D and the consequential increase of β1A. Thus, our data provide the first suggestion that integrins in masseter muscle play a key role regulating the functional activity of muscle and allowing the optimization of contractile forces.

Functional and molecular outcomes of the human masticatory muscles

“…As previously described, Cutroneo et al. () showed that patients with UPS had an imbalance of integrin expression in the masseter muscle between the both sides, with the side affected by UPS exhibiting a lower expression of different integrin isoforms, in accordance with electromyographic studies (Piancino et al., , ) (Figure ).…”

“…Control side , not affected by UPS showed an increasing of α7A and β1A‐integrin compared to α7B and β1D isoform. Crossbite side, expression of all of the integrin isoforms appears to be decreased compared to the integrins of the control side not affected by crossbite (from Cutroneo et al., )…”

“…Moreover, Cutroneo et al. (), in a study on human biopsies of masseter muscles of subjects affected by unilateral posterior crossbite, demonstrated that the amount of α7A and β1A integrins was significantly reduced in the crossbite side compared to the corresponding counterpart not affected by the crossbite malocclusion. These results obtained in humans lead to the intriguing hypothesis that the presence of a malocclusion may be influenced by the composition and arrangement of the muscle fibers.…”

Influence of Myeloperoxidase Levels on Periodontal Disease: An Applied Clinical Study

“…It has also been shown that MPO, during periodontal disease, mediates the immune response at the endothelial level through specific heat shock proteins which has been shown to be useful for stimulating the production of cross-reactive T cells [47][48][49][50][51][52]. In this regard, this process which sees MPO as a key modulator [53][54][55][56][57][58], has also been shown to influence the host defense mechanism that determines a subsequent activation of endothelial cell production [55,[58][59][60][61][62][63] which leads to an increased risk of future tissue damage effects due to periodontal pathogens bacteria in several oral diseases [43,[64][65][66][67][68]. Moreover, the oral microbiota is a key factor in the protection against the colonization of extrinsic pathogens that could impact systemic health [68].…”

New challenge in the systemic sclerosis disease management: A call to action

“…The findings by Jung et al (2017) outlined in their review concur with several cases of evidence on this topic that support a wide array of oral manifestation (Del Rosso & Maddali-Bongi, 2014;Matarese et al, 2016) clearly associated with a significant impairment during SSc. These include dental (decayed, filled and missing teeth), periodontal and orofacial (microstomia, xerostomia and alveolar bone resorption) abnormalities (Amin et al, 2011;Cutroneo et al, 2012;Matarese et al, 2015).…”