Although benign,
ameloblastomas are locally invasive and destructive
tumors of the jawbones. The
glypicans comprise a family of
glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored
proteoglycans that, by virtue of their cell-surface localization and
heparin sulfate chain composition, might regulate the response of cells to numerous
heparin-binding
growth factors,
cell adhesion molecules, and extracellular matrix components. The expression of
glypican-1 is differentially altered among different types of
malignancies, suggesting a possible role in the
tumorigenesis and
biological behavior of these
neoplasms. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of
glypican-1 and then hypothesize the possible role that this
protein may play in the
biological behavior of
ameloblastomas. We assessed the presence of
glypican-1 by immunohistochemical staining analyses in a series of 80 cases of different types of
ameloblastomas. Desmoplastic
ameloblastomas exhibited the highest expression of
glypican-1 (100%), followed by the peripheral (66%), solid/multicystic (51.2%), and unicystic (47.2%) types, showing statistically significant differences among them (P<0.001). Differences detected in
glypican-1 expression among different subtypes of
ameloblastomas, could be suggesting a possible association with their different
biological behavior.