Author(s)

Marina P. Georgopoulou^1*, Konstantinos I. Tosios², Nikolaos Goutas¹, Mirsini Kouloukoussa³

¹Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
²Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Background: We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of Arp2/3 complex in 88 oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) and correlated it with the tumor type and grade. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study of 88 cases of OSCCs (9 verrucous carcinomas, 4 carcinomas in situ, 37 well differentiated OSCCs, 32 moderately differentiated OSCCs, and 6 poorly differentiated OSCCs), stained with mouse monoclonal antibodies for Arp2 and Arp3. Staining was graded according to the extent of positivity by two observers. Results: Arp2 positivity was seen in 79 (89.77%) cases and Arp3 positivity in 78 (88.63%) cases. In positive cases, Arp2 expression was graded as (+) in 12.5%, (++) in 28.4% and (+++) in 48.86% of the cases; Arp3 was graded as (+) in 36.36%, (++) in 30.68% and (+++) in 21.59% of the cases. Conclusion: Expression of Arp2 and Arp3, indicative of the formation of the Arp2/3 complex, was seen in most OSCCs examined. Although no statistically significant correlation was found between the immunohistochemical expression of Arp2/Arp3 and tumor type or grade, the more common expression in invasive OSCCs than in non-invasive verrucous carcinomas and carcinomas in situ is indicative of its involvement in the biological behaviour of the lesions. The availability of Arp2/3 inhibitors that could be used in clinical practice warrants further study of the expression of Arp2/3 in OSCC.

Actin-Related Protein 2-3 Complex, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Oral

Georgopoulou, M. , Tosios, K. , Goutas, N. and Kouloukoussa, M. (2019) Arp2/3 Complex Is Expressed in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study of 88 Cases. Open Journal of Stomatology, 9, 29-38. doi: 10.4236/ojst.2019.93004.