Detection of Stem Cells in Dental Follicle and Benign Odontogenic Lesions by Immunohistochemical Expression of CD44 and c Myc

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecturer of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Faculty of Dentistry Minia University

2 Assistant Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Faculty of Dentistry Suez University

3 Lecturer of Oral Biology Faculty of Dentistry Minia University

Abstract

The pathogenesis of odontogenic lesions could be explained by the presence of stem cells as those odontogenic lesions contain a small number of stem cells. Many odontogenic tumors have been reported to originate from stem cells that present in remnants of the dental lamina. The maintenance of stem cells in early dental development is regulated by variety of transcription factors such as OCT-4, SOX-2, CD44, Nanog, Stat-3 and c-Myc. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the immunoexpression of two stem cell markers, which are CD44 and c Myc, in dental follicles and in benign epithelial odontogenic lesions. The study included 8 specimens of dental follicle, 6 specimens of inflammatory cysts, 8 specimens of odontogenic keratocyst and 8 specimens of dentigerous cysts. All cases of dental follicles showed positive immunoreaction for the two markers. Regarding c Myc all cases showed +ve immunoreaction except (OKC) were –ve. Regarding CD44 all cases showed +ve immunoreaction. Results of the present study characterize the presence of stem cells in dental follicle and in benign odontogenic lesions illustrating their role in the pathogenesis of these odontogenic lesions.

Keywords