The association between podoplanin and
ezrin in the process of
odontogenic tumors invasion has been suggested, but was not studied yet. Our purpose was to investigate the relationship between podoplanin and
ezrin expressions in the odontogenic epithelium of
ameloblastomas. Forty-seven
ameloblastomas were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using anti-podoplanin and anti-
ezrin antibodies. The expressions of both
proteins were evaluated using a score method and the comparison and association between these
proteins were verified, respectively, by Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test and by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, using a statistical significance level of 0.05. The majority of
tumors (87.2%) exhibited strong membranous expression of podoplanin in the peripheral cells. Cytoplasmic expression of
ezrin in the peripheral cells of
ameloblastomas was stronger than its membranous expression. No statistically significant correlation was observed between podoplanin and
ezrin. However, there was statistically significant difference between membranous podoplanin and membranous
ezrin expressions, between cytoplasmic podoplanin and membranous
ezrin expressions, and between cytoplasmic podoplanin and cytoplasmic
ezrin expressions. There was no statistical difference between membranous podoplanin and cytoplasmic
ezrin expressions. These results suggest a synergistic role of both
proteins in the process of invasion of
ameloblastomas.