title: Autophagy mediates oral submucous fibrosis.
abstract: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic insidious disease of the oral mucosa, well-recognized as a premalignant condition and commonly found in Southern China. It is primarily caused by the habit of areca nut or gutkha chewing. OSF is believed to be a homeostatic disorder of the extracellular matrix and fibroblast proliferation. The present study demonstrated a novel link between autophagy and OSF. Tissue samples from human OSF showed an overexpression of the autophagy marker microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 using immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. With regard to the crucial role of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β in OSF disease, western blot analysis demonstrated that TGF-β signaling was shown to contribute to the activation of autophagy in fibroblastsin vitro; however, a cell apoptosis and MTS assay demonstrated that the suppression of autophagy ameliorated the fibrosis induced by active TGF-β receptor type I signaling, as well as promoted fibroblast apoptosis and suppressed proliferation. Therefore, the present results suggest that autophagy serves a crucial function in OSF.
authors.affiliation: Oral Medical Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Oral Medical Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ting-Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325035, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Neuroscience, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325035, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chao-Jin
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhuo-Xiang
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.affiliation: Oral Medical Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zi-Yi
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Oral Medical Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chang-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Fang
keywords: autophagy; microtubule-associated protein light chain 3; oral submucous fibrosis; transforming growth factor-β