Open AccessExpression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase protein in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma: An immunohistochemical study
Author(s) -
Bangalore Nagarajachar Raghunandan,
Karpagaselvi Sanjai,
Jayalakshmi Kumaraswamy,
Lokesh Papaiah,
Bhavna Pandey,
Bellur MadhavaRao Jyothi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology/journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.455
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1998-393X
pISSN - 0973-029X
DOI - 10.4103/0973-029x.180953
Subject(s) - telomerase reverse transcriptase , immunohistochemistry , telomerase , basal cell , reverse transcriptase , epithelial dysplasia , cancer research , dysplasia , protein expression , pathology , medicine , biology , polymerase chain reaction , gene , biochemistry
Telomerase is an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase that synthesizes TTAGGG telomeric DNA sequences and almost universally provides the molecular basis for unlimited proliferative potential. The telomeres become shorter with each cycle of replication and reach a critical limit; most cells die or enter stage of replicative senescence. Telomere length maintenance by telomerase is required for all the cells that exhibit limitless replicative potential. It has been postulated that reactivation of telomerase expression is necessary for the continuous proliferation of neoplastic cells to attain immortality. Use of immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a useful, reliable method of localizing the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) protein in tissue sections which permits cellular localization. Although there exists a lot of information on telomerase in oral cancer, little is known about their expression in oral epithelial dysplasia and their progression to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) compared to normal oral mucosa. This study addresses this lacuna.