title: Basal cells have longest telomeres measured by tissue Q-FISH method in lingual epithelium.
abstract: We investigated the telomere lengths of individual cell types in lingual mucosa using an improved tissue quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (Q-FISH) method. Our tissue Q-FISH method compensates for partially cut nuclei in a tissue section by using the telomere:centromere ratio (TCR). We normalized our TCR measurements (NTCR) using a section from a block of cultured cells placed on the same slide, thus improving the accuracy and reproducibility of the results. Normal lingual mucosa was obtained from 21 autopsied individuals. Immunohistochemistry showed positivity mainly for p27, p63, and CK19 in basal cells, and for Ki-67 in parabasal cells. Q-FISH revealed that NTCR was significantly highest in basal cells and lowest in prickle cells, and also that telomere length regressed at a certain rate in each cell type, firstly. Significant correlations of NTCR among the three epithelial cell types were demonstrated. The present findings appear to support the theory that stem cells exist in the basal layer of the lingual epithelium. The reduction of telomere length with age and in each cell layer is consistent with the telomere biology theory of cell proliferation and differentiation in oral mucosa.
authors.affiliation: Research Team for Geriatric Diseases, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2, Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan. aidajs@tmig.or.jp
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aida
authors.forename: Naotaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Izumiyama-Shimomura
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Naoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Steven S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kammori
authors.forename: Motoji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawabe
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Mutsunori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Kaiyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takubo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053539:Keratin-19 / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014059:Tongue / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C081876:CKAP4 protein, human; D053539:Keratin-19; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; C413374:p27 antigen