title: Oral epithelial stem cells - implications in normal development and cancer metastasis.
abstract: Oral mucosa is continuously exposed to environmental forces and has to be constantly renewed. Accordingly, the oral mucosa epithelium contains a large reservoir of epithelial stem cells necessary for tissue homeostasis. Despite considerable scientific advances in stem cell behavior in a number of tissues, fewer studies have been devoted to the stem cells in the oral epithelium. Most of oral mucosa stem cells studies are focused on identifying cancer stem cells (CSC) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) among other head and neck cancers. OSCCs are the most prevalent epithelial tumors of the head and neck region, marked by their aggressiveness and invasiveness. Due to their highly tumorigenic properties, it has been suggested that CSC may be the critical population of cancer cells in the development of OSCC metastasis. This review presents a brief overview of epithelium stem cells with implications in oral health, and the clinical implications of the CSC concept in OSCC metastatic dissemination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: silvanap@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papagerakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pannone
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, 13288, Marseille cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: About
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Nawar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Taqi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Nghia P T
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Margarite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matossian
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McAlpin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Organogenesis, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papagerakis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000556:secondary*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Cancer stem cells; Epithelial stem cells; Invasion; Metastasis; Oral mucosa; Oral squamous cell carcinoma