Imunoexpressão das proteínas E-caderina e Twist1 em neoplasias de glândulas salivares

• Ano de defesa: 2021
• Autor(a) principal: Domingos, Nara Régia da Silva
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Brasil; UFRN; PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM CIÊNCIAS ODONTOLÓGICAS
• Palavras-chave em Português: Glândulas salivares; Neoplasias; Transição Epitelial-Mesenquimal
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/45911

Salivary gland neoplasms present a great diversity of morphological aspects and biological behaviors, bringing diagnostic difficulties and raising interest in the scientific research of these lesions. In turn, the importance of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is recognized, which plays a key role in tumor invasion and progression, being a necessary step for metastasis. In this process, epithelial cells lose their adhesion and polarity and acquire mesenchymal properties and increased motility, with decreased expression of epithelial biomarkers and increased expression of mesenchymal biomarkers. Among the biomarkers involved in this process are E-cadherin and Twist, which play a fundamental role in the EMT process. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the immunoexpression of these proteins in Pleomorphic Adenoma (PA), Cystic Adenoid Carcinoma (ACC) and Carcinoma ExPleomorphic Adenoma (CXPA) aiming to better understand the EMT process in this group of lesions. The study was descriptive and comparative, observational and cross-sectional, and the sample consisted of 20 cases of PA, 20 of ACC and 10 of CXPA, in which the immunoexpression of proteins in the tumor parenchyma was analyzed. Possible differences between the expression pattern of these proteins and the clinicopathological profile of the studied lesions were investigated. Regarding immunoreactivity for E-cadherin, cytoplasmic labeling was observed in 90% of the cases of PA, 95% for ACC and 80% for CXPA; membrane expression was observed in 40%, 75% and 80% respectively. Twist1 was positive in 80% of cases of PA and in all cases of malignant neoplasms. A statistically significant difference was observed between a greater expression of membrane E-cadherin and the benign nature of the TGS studied (p = 0.030), however, the cytoplasmic immunoexpression of E-cadherin and Twist1 did not show significant results regarding the benign/malignant nature of the lesions (p > 0.05). Regarding the PA histopathological patterns and ACC histological subtypes, no statistically significant differences were observed between the immunoexpressions of the studied proteins, similarly for the anatomical location of the cases in our sample (p > 0.05). When evaluating possible differences between the immunoexpression of E-cadherin proteins (cytoplasmic and membrane) and Twist1 with the clinical characteristics of malignant neoplasms (ACC and CXPA), statistically significant differences were evidenced between a higher expression of cytoplasmic E-cadherin in tumors of larger size (p = 0.024). E-cadherin membrane immunoexpression did not show statistically significant results for any of the clinical parameters investigated in the malignant neoplasms included in the present study (p > 0.05). Our results suggest the participation of these proteins in salivary gland neoplasms, in addition to the fact that the high cytoplasmic expression of E-cadherin may be indicative of tumors with worse clinical behavior.