An 18 years old female patient suffered from cerebrovascular occlusive disease, moyamoya disease, showed a huge cyst in her left mandibular body in the radiological observation. The lesion was asymptomatic and found during routine dental check. She had no experience of traumatic injury on her jaw. The cystic lesion was ovoid with irregular scalloping margin and multilobular image, and occupied the whole marrow space of mandibular body with slight expansion of buccal cortical bone. During operation the lesion showed an empty space covered with grayish white fibrous tissue. The luminal fibrous tissue and underlying bony tissue were curettaged and examined pathologically. In the histological observation the lesion was a pseudocyst lined by thick fibrous tissue. Some large vessels underwent atherosclerotic change, exhibiting thickened vessel walls which were partly distorted with hemorrhage and thrombi, and some small capillaries were extremely dilated with hemorrhage and subsequently resulted in perivascular ischemic change with chronic vasculitis. This mandibular cystic lesion was finally diagnosed as simple bone cyst (SBC) associated with moyamoya disease differentially from aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC), traumatic bone cyst (TBC), periapical odontogenic keratocyst, and central giant cell granuloma. Therefore, it was presumed that the thromboembolic and atherosclerotic vessels of moyamoya disease might increase the hemodynamic pressure of mandibular bone marrow tissue and subsequently was able to induce SBC.

A 67 years old female showed diffuse erosive ulceration at left buccal mucosa. She had received tegretol to treat the patient’s pain and anxiety of trigeminal neuralgia for 18 months. Otherwise her medical history was nonspecific. Under the clinical diagnosis of lichen planus she received anti-inflammatory therapies using antibiotics and steroid ointment, which were not effective. Consequently her oral ulceration was gradually expanded and aggravated. In the biopsy examination mucosa epithelium was irregularly keratinized and focally detached from underlying connective tissue by thin cleft spaces, accompanied with inflammatory cell infiltration into the subepithelial area. The epithelium was generally acanthomatous with short rete ridges. Many spots of acantholysis were found in the basal and suprabasal layers of epithelium, into which melanocytes were migrated. Particularly, many keratinocytes not only in the spinous layer but also in the suprabasal layer contained atypical keratohyalin granules in their cytoplasms. In the immunohistochemistry the epithelium was rarely positive for PCNA and IgK, but strongly positive for HSP-70, and many keratinocytes showed strong positive reaction of lysozyme in their cytoplasms. Taken together, with the characteristic cytotoxic changes of keratinocytes, which are usually found in the oral epithelium damaged by certain drug abuse, the present case of pemphigus-like oral lesion was diagnosed as drug-induced pemphigus caused by long time intake of tegretol, carbamazepine derivative. The acute oral drug-induced pemphigus should be differentially diagnosed from oral lichen planus, recurrent aphthous ulceration, oral leukoplakia, candidiasis, autoimmune pemphigus, etc., in order to treat properly in the absence of biohazards of systemic therapeutic drugs

The molecular mechanisms of the carcinogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) are highly variable and result in different features of tumor progression, i.e., local tissue destruction and metastasis to regional lymph nodes. A case of OSCC arising from proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) was analyzed for its protein expression profile by immunoprecipitation (IP) – high performance liquid chromatography (IP-HPLC) by using 72 antisera and comparing results with those of KB cells. OSCC arising from PVL showed stronger expressions of proteins associated with cell proliferation (MPM2, PCNA, eiF5A, DHS, DOHH), cell survival (pAKT, MDM2, survivin), matrix proteolysis (elaffin), tumor suppression (p16, p21, PTCH1), the WNT/β-catenin pathway (SHH, WNT1, APC, β-catenin, snail), proinflammation (TNFα), angiogenesis (HIF, CMG2, vWF), and cellular protection (HSP-70, FAK, caveolin) and of oncoproteins (STAT3, 14-3-3, K-RAS, PUMA, PIM1) and growth factors (EGFR, bFGF) than KB cells. On the other hand, KB cells showed stronger expressions of proteins associated with apoptosis (caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, PARP, FAS, FASL, TGase-1, BCL2, BAD, BID, BAK, FLIP), matrix proteolysis (MMP-2, MMP-9), transcription signaling (NFkB, p38, E2F-1, HO-1), and tumor suppression (p53, RB1, PTEN) and of oncoproteins (DMBT1, CEA) and growth factor (TGF-β1, c-erbB2, VEGF) than OSCC arising from PVL. These data indicate the cells of OSCC arising from PVL are more resistant and more robust than KB cells. Furthermore, they suggest the oncogenic signalings of OSCC arising from PVL play important roles in the aggressive growth and rapid tumor metastasis to regional lymph nodes

Exostosis is a phenomenon of exophytic growth of compact bone, and the oral exostosis, so called a torus is usually found in the lingual or labial areas of mandible and maxilla, and the hard palatal area. It is not a pathological nor tumoral formation but a localized bony protuberance relevant to developmental and environmental origins. However, the pathogenesis of exostosis has not been clearly elucidated so far. In the present study total 51 cases of oral exostosis were examined by radiological, histological, and immunohistochemical methods to observe the osteogenetic potential existed in the sclerosed bony tissue of exostosis. Particularly, the unilateral mandibular exostoses occurred in the vicinity of mandibular primary growth centers which were more prominent than the contralateral ones in the radiological observation. Histologically the peripheral area of exostosis was composed of lamellated bone and covered with periosteal tissue which showed sparse osteoblastic activity, while the central area of exostosis was composed of thickened and anastomosed trabecular bones with small amount of marrow connective tissue. The latter stained blue in Masson trichrome method, while the former stained red. The immunohistochemical reactions of BMP-2, bFGF, CMG2, and TGF-β1 were clearly positive in the central trabecular bones, while almost negative in the peripheral cortical bones of exostosis. These findings may indicate that the central area of exostosis is less mineralized than the peripheral area of exostosis, and the former expresses different osteogenetic proteins to produce bony tissue contrary to the latter. Therefore, it is suggested that the strong osteogenetic potential in the central area of exostosis be relevant to the growth potential of mandibular and maxillary primary growth centers and play an important role for the latent expansile growth of exostosis in adult life.

A 72 years old male complained of gingival ulceration and whitish discoloration on the marginal and attached gingival epithelium of left mandibular premolar and molar area, where a porcelain-fused metal (PFM) crown and an ill-fitting gold crown were applied for 10 years, respectively. Recently he had a cancer phobia due to this whitish lesion unhealed even after intensive anti-inflammatory and antibiotic treatment. In the pathological examination the epithelium was hyperkeratotic and acanthomatous with severe inflammatory reaction, and subsequently its basement membrane was distorted and the intercellular spaces between keratinocytes were widened. Particularly, the nuclei of keratinocytes were elongated in the same direction towards the electric current between the dissimilar metallic crowns of PFM gold. In the immunohistochemistry KL1, β-catenin, and S-100 were strongly positive in the epithelium, but consistently weak for TNFα, HSP-70, and β-defensin-1, -2, -3. On the other hand, PCNA, p53, E-cadherin, and pAKT were rarely positive for the epithelium. Interestingly, the hyperkeratinized and inflamed epithelium was strongly positive for a calcium binding protein (S-100), while it showed almost reduced expression of protective molecules (HSP-70, β-defensin-1, -2, -3, and pAKT). Therefore, it was presumed that this localized lichenoid gingivitis was caused by the galvanic current phenomenon with lower cellular and immunological responses contrary to the ordinary oral lichen planus and leukoplakia

Oral erythroleukoplakia is characterized by severe dyskeratosis intermingled with multifocal erosive spots on the buccal mucosa, dorsal tongue, and lower lip, etc. A case of oral erythroleukoplakia was diagnosed among 83 cases of common oral leukoplakia since 1997. The pathological examination showed the typical features of leukoplakia with severe epithelial dysplasia, exhibiting dyskeratosis, acanthosis, and basal hyperplasia. The oral erythroleukoplakia was explored in comparison with a representative common oral leukoplakia by the immunohistochemical method using PCNA, β-catenin, EGFR, p53, TNFα, pAKT, and STAT3. Oral erythroleukoplakia showed strong positive reaction of PCNA, p53, EGFR, TNFα, pAKT1 and STAT3 in its spinous layer cells and these reactions were reduced in its basal layer cells, while common oral leukoplakia showed diffusely weak reaction of those proteins. Particularly, β-catenin was positive in the nuclei of some basal and spinous layer cells of oral erythroleukoplakia contrast to the common oral leukoplakia. These findings indicated that the present oral erythroleukoplakia was proliferative with the activation of β-catenin pathway, revealed the dysplastic changes of epithelium by the overexpression of EGFR, p53, and pAKT, and also produced inflammatory reaction through the activation of cytokine-dependent signalings of TNFα and STAT3. These data indicated that the present oral erythroleukoplakia might undergo the early stage of multi-step carcinogenesis via the overexpression of different oncoproteins, especially β-catenine, p53, pAKT, and STAT3.

Pemphigus is an autoimmune blistering disease characterized by autoantibodies against epidermal adhesion molecules, desmogleins. Pemphigus vulgaris is most common and shows intraepidermal vesicles caused by the breaking apart of epidermal cells, acantholysis. A 65 years old male patient complained of severe mucosa ulceration on his right mandibular retromolar pad area where traumatic injuries occurred during mastication. He also had multifocal round skin ulcerations, less than 7~8mm in diameter and showed habitual onset and disappeared soon. At this time he was anxious about his oral ulceration with a cancer phobia, thereby a biopsy was made to rule out any malignancy in the ulceration. The histology examination showed multifocal suprabasal splits forming vesicles and erosion. The suprabasal splits were linear and parallel to the basal cell layer. The immunostain of IgK was strongly positive in the vesicular fluid as well as the cell membranes of dissociating keratinocytes, and also positive in many plasma cells infiltrated into the subepithelial zone. TNFα, IL‐1, ‐8, ‐28 for the pro‐inflammatory reaction were weakly expressed, while IL‐6 was strongly positive in the acantholytic keratinocytes of vesicle forming area. β‐defensin‐1, ‐2, ‐3 for the innate immunity were diffusely positive in the involved epithelium. The cell survival proteins, pAKT and HSP‐70 were diffusely positive in the epithelium, while the apoptosis protein, PARP was consistently positive in some acantholytic keratinocytes. These findings indicated that the vesicle formation occurred by autoantibody reaction without the activation of pro‐inflammatory and cell‐mediated immune reactions. The lesion was diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris with abrupt onset of epithelial vesicles at the predisposing areas of traumatic injuries by type II hypersenstitive immune reaction.

Rushton bodies are known to be the aberrant keratinization and calcification in the epithelium of odontogenic cyst, which are similar to the features of calcifying odontogenic cyst and pilomatricoma. However, the pathogenetic mechanism of keratinization and calcification of Rushton bodies has not been clearly elucidated. Here, a case of Rushton bodies found in dentigerous cyst was examined by immunohistochemical method using antisera of PCNA, pAKT, HIF, PIM1, and PARP. The globular keratinization in lamellate fashion showed weak birefringency under polarizing microscope, and the Rushton bodies frequently underwent the dystrophic calcification. The polygonal keratinocytes of Rushton bodies were strongly positive for HIF and PARP, and the cyst epithelium was diffusely positive for pAKT and PIM1. Particularly, the cyst epithelium was hyperplastic and focally invaginated into cyst wall with positive reaction of PCNA. These findings may indicate the active response of odontogenic epithelium against the apoptotic stress of the cyst, producing the globular keratinization and irregular calcification in the polygonal keratinocytes. Therefore, it is presumed that the lamellate keratinization and dystrophic calcification of Rushton bodies are aberrant products of retrograding keratinocytes slowly undergoing apoptotic progresses similar to the phenomena of the ghost cells in calcifying odontogenic cyst and pilomatricoma, and also may have a potential for oncogenic proliferation.

Although the mechanism of the abnormal calcification in the calcifying odontogenic cyst (COC) was not elucidated so far, it has been known that the ghost cells are closely related to the calcification, producing dystrophic globular cementum-like materials, comparable to pilomatricoma in epithelium1). Here, we presented a case of COC occurred in left maxillary canine area of 23 years old female, exhibiting a collection of aberrant ossification admixed with basophilic ghost cells in comparison with seven cases of COC. In the polarizing microscope observation with Masson trichrome stain the present case clearly disclosed the typical birefringence of bony tissue, stained red in von Gieson stain, indicating the collagenous backbone. Some ghost cells showed the features of interdigitating epithelial attachments, empty spaces of nuclei, and reticular basophilic cytoplasms, which were similar to the basophilic ghost cells of philomatricoma. The present case demonstrated the aberrant ossification by basophilic ghost cells in COC similar to the ossification of pilomatricoma

Sparganosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by the infection of plerocercoid tapeworm larvae of the genus Spirometra. Up to date many cases of oral sparganosis had been diagnosed from biopsy specimens in Korea, however, in this study a 14 years old male showed an oral sparganosis in his buccal nodule producing its eggs, which were extruded through the ulcerated surface of buccal nodule. In the cytological observation for the pus‐like exudates many ovoid parasite eggs were found with a lot of inflammatory cells, which were mostly composed of eosinophilic polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). The eggs were measured about 50x50x80 μm, and had an operculum without opercular shoulder. In the subsequent biopsy examination the buccal nodule disclosed a diffuse granulomatous lesion with tunnel‐like spaces containing eosinophilic materials of parasite tegument, also infiltrated with a lot of eosinophilic PMNs. Therefore, we diagnosed it oral sparganosis producing its eggs with the characteristic features of sparganum granuloma in the cytological and histological observations, and also suggested that the cytological finding of parasitic eggs would be helpful to confirm the parasitic infection of sparganum matured enough to produce its eggs.

A 17-year-old male patient was referred for the extraction of impacted mesiodens and canine (#23) before orthodontic treatment. In the radiologic examination, an ovoid-shape radiolucent lesion was found with well-defined hyperostotic rim involved the teeth in left maxillary area. After biopsy examination the lesion was diagnosed as glandular odontogenic cyst (GOC) differentially from non-odontogrnic cysts, i.e., nasopalatine duct cyst. In the immunohistochemistry the cyst epithelium was freguently positive for PCNA, clearly positive for amtloblastin, slightly positive for β-catenin, but rarely positive for amelogenin and cytokeratin 7. Mucin and PRP were positive in the secretory cells of the cyst epithelium. On the other hand, TNFα was strongly positive in the macropahges infiltrated into the mucin-filled cyst lumen, and CD68 and CD31 were positive in the mucin-filled macropahges. These findings may indicate that the glandular elements are derived from hamartomatous secretory organ and that this odontogenic cyst is arisen from the embryonal rests of enamel epithelium, which has a potential to be differentiated into not only the enamel organ but also the secretory gland. Taken together, we assumed that the present case of GOC was originated from the odontogenic epithelium of impacted teeth, but showed the cytodifferentiation of glandular cells.

Oral squamous cell papillomas(OSCPs) showed various features in their etiology, histology, and prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to diagnose differentially according to their pathological examinations. In the present study total 14 cases of OSCPs were evaluated and characterized to be three types of OSCPs, i.e., papillary papilloma, verrucous papilloma, and inverted papilloma. The present study demonstrated that among 14 cases of OSCPs papillary papilloma (n＝6) showed the typical papillary projection of squamous epithelium with severe acanthosis of upper spinous layer cells, accompanying frequent nuclear vacuolization. And verrucous papilloma (n＝7) showed the diffuse acanthosis of whole spinous layer cells with severe basal hyperplasia, resulted in the thick squamous epithelium exhibiting verrucous surface and irregularly ingrowing rete pegs. One case of inverted papilloma showed the typical ingrowth of basal layer cells deeply into underlying connective tissue, resulted in the formation of multiple fissures on the surface area. The present study also revealed the predominant nuclear vacuolization suspicious for viral infection in papillary papilloma, and also heavy smoking history in the verrucous papilloma. On the other hand, as the epithelium of inverted papilloma ingrew into the underlying deep connective tissue up to the muscular layer, it is supposed that the inverted papilloma has a potential of basal layer proliferation strong enough to invade the protecting barrier of underlying connective tissue, or that the underlying connective tissue was too weak to prevent the ingrowth of basal layer epithelium. Taken together, because the OSCPs show heterogenous origins and variable pathological prognosis, it is suggested that the OSCPs should be differentially diagnosed at least into three types, i.e., papillary papilloma, verrucous papilloma, and inverted papilloma.

Socket sclerosis can be an obstacle for orthodontic space closure, however, the precise histomorphogenetic mechanism has not been elucidated up to date. A 73 years old female complained of dull pain on palpation in the extraction site of the left maxillary first molar, and uncomfortable to use her complete denture. In panoramic X-ray view the socket sclerosis was clearly demarcated as a radiopaque outline of extracted root. In histological examination the socket sclerosis showed the basophilic deposition of cementum- like materials in the peripheral rim of trabecular bones instead of eosinophilic osteoid materials for intramembranous ossification. In the immunohistochemical staining for osteogenetic proteins, BMP-2 was strongly positive in the peripheral rim of trabecular bone, in which RANKL and osteoprotegerin were also consistently positive. Particularly, versican, a marker of cementum was also positive in the peripheral rim of the trabecular bone. Therefore, it is presumed that the trabecular bones of socket sclerosis were hypermineralized by cementoid ossification, producing cementum-like materials by osteoblasts/cementoblasts derived from the previous periodontium.

A 41-year-old male patient complained of a whitish growing mass on the central area of palate. The exophytic keratinizing mass was recently grown and showed rough surface localized at palatal mucosa. He has heavily smoked for more than 25 years. The lesion was clearly demarcated as an out-growing verrucous whitish epithelial lesion with erosive mucosa in the periphery and also continuous with the extensive hyperkeratosis in whole hard palatal mucosa. In the histological examination there appeared a plaque type verrucous hyperplasia in the absence of papillomatous growth. In the series of immunostains including PCNA, p53, β-catenin, APC, E-cadherin, BCL-2, MMP-1 and MMP-3 showed no features of infiltrative growth and malignant transformation. Therefore, the present case was diagnosed oral verrucous hyperplasia(OVH) different from squamous cell papilloma, verrucous leukoplakia, verrucous carcinoma, and oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Myositis ossificans traumatica(MOT) in head and neck area is a rare non-neoplastic, heterotopic bone formation within a muscle, arising after trauma or surgery. Although the several case reports have described the occurrence of MOT in other muscles of oro-facial musculature, MOT has never been reported in mentalis muscle. We demonstrate a case of MOT occurred in mentalis muscle of a 64 years old male. He recently complained of a movable mass with no pain. He had experienced a hitting trauma on his right anterior mandible about 25 years ago. Since then, the trauma area has been asymptomatic. The lesion showed severe muscular degeneration, resulted in a pseudocystic change without epithelial lining. The ectopic ossification was closely associated with the fibrous fascia of adjacent muscles. The lesion contained a lot of basophilic materials admixed with atrophying cells, which were supposed to be derived from muscle parenchyma injured previously. It was presumed that the basophilic materials induced callus-like ossification in the fibro-muscular lesion, also recruited macrophages and fibroblasts. However, the ossification processes in MOT were predominantly characterized by dystrophic calcification without osteoblastic differentiation of mesenchymal cells. Even more, there appeared some skeletal muscle bundles which were calcified dystrophically. Therefore, we suggest the present case of MOT might be initiated by dystrophic calcification in the degenerating muscle tissue

In the previous study it was demonstrated that most of sialolith contained bacterial colonies in their center of calcified laminated capsules1). Although it is still not determined whether the bacterial infection is a major pathogenic cause or not, many authors reported that the bacterial vegetation in sialolith can cause chronic suppurative inflammation in salivary gland. Actually a lot of different bacteria were found in oral cavity, most of them are non-pathogenic as normal flora, and only some of them are pathogenic for different mucosal infectious diseases. However, this study was aimed to identify a causative bacterial strain for the sialolith formation in human salivary gland. A strain of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis ) was found in the culture of sialolith, which was known to be a normal flora related to the fermentation of various Korean bean foods. In vitro culture experiment of B. subtilis it abundantly produced the thick biofilm aggregated around their cells and colony structure, which were subsequently attached on the surface of hydroxyapatite( HA) beads in scanning electronmicroscope(SEM) observation. The bacterial adherence on HA beads was strongest in the culture of B. subtilis, followed by Streptococcus mutans (Str. mutans ), oral mixed bacteria, and lactobacillus. Therefore, B. subtilis might be an important causative microorganism for the sialolithiasis in Korean people, and it is suggested that postmeal oral hygiene care should be required to reduce the number of normal flora, B. subtilis, after eating of fermented bean foods.

Glutamate-induced oxidative injury contributes to neuronal degeneration in many central nervous system (CNS) diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and ischemia. Inducible heme oxygenase (HO)-1 acts against oxidants that are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of these diseases. The EtOH extracts of Viola mandshurica (NNMBS274), Viola patrinii (NNMBS275) and Viola papilionacea Pursh (NNMBS276), origin plants of Violae Herba, showed the potent neuroprotective effects on glutamate-induced neurotoxicity. Among them, NNMBS275, the extract of V. patrinii possessed the protective effects against glutamate toxicity by inducing the expression of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 in the mouse hippocampal HT22 cells. These results suggest that extracts of V. patrinii could be the effective candidates for the treatment of ROS-related neurological diseases. Furthermore, it is suggested that the protective effects of V. patrinii extract due to inducing the expression of HO-1 asAs the exfoliated keratinocytes (EKs) in oral mucosa are aging and degenerating cells, of which cytoplasms are almost replaced by cross-linked keratin materials. Consequently, the EKs become apoptotic with nuclear lysis. A question is arisen what is the biological role of these EKs in oral cavity? Are they simply degrading as aging keratinocytes or do they have some essential function still remained in the exfoliated status? The buccal smear samples from ten healthy adult subjects were observed under scanning electron microscope. On the outer surface of the EKs the features of bacterial adhesion were explored. The microorganisms attached on the surface of EKs were much deformed, shrunken and teared. Only a few microorganisms were found on the EK surface, aggregated focally. The attached microorganisms were gradually fused on the cell membrane of EKs, and subsequently endocytosed. Resultantly, many round endocytotic concave cavities similar size to the cocci were remained on the surface of EKs similar to the sequels of caveolae endocytosis. These data indicate that the degenerating EKs can actively engulf microorganisms attached on their cell surface via the processes of caveolae endocytosis. Therefore, it is presumed that the oral EKs still play a role for endocytotic scavenging of oral microorganisms using the denatured cell bodies themselves, which become highly adherent to oral microorganisms and still function for caveolae endocytosis in mixed saliva environment. an antioxidant/cytoprotective target

In the previous molecular cloning study from human salivary gland cDNA library novel clones (C75‐014, C76‐022) were known as candidate genes for proline rich proteins by GenBank data base search and RNA in situ hybridization. C75‐014 and C76‐022 genes were characterized as those expressing excretory basic proteins primarily composed of alanine, proline, and leucine residues, mimicking basic proline‐rich proteins (bPRPs) with helical structures and multiple consensus sequences of phosphorylation sites. In the immunohistochemical stainings using polyclonal antisera against each C75‐014 and C76‐022 peptide showed strong reaction in the secretory granules of striated and excretory ducts. And in Western blot for the different salivary specimens relatively distinctive bands appeared at lower molecular weight, ranging about 15‐50 kDa. This study was aimed to identify the molecular characteristics of C75‐014 and C76‐022 proteins, which showed properties of basic proline rich protein. These data suggest that C75‐014 and C76‐022 are candidate genes for proline rich proteins in human salivary gland, which may play a role for protecting and stabilizing the mucosal epithelium against numerous proteolytic damages and stresses.

A 37 years old male patient had suffered from fibrous nasal polyp for more than 10 years even though careful medical treatment, and recently aggravated with severe nasal stiffness and pain. In the radiological observation the lesion was continuously extended into the ipsilateral maxillary sinus by poly cystic radiopacities gradually destroying the anterior wall of antrum. During the Caldwell-Luc operation a cystic fibrous granulomatous tissue was removed, and its microsections showed multicystic and tunnel-like spaces, of which lumens were usually round and filled with parts of parasitic worm e xhibiting parasitic t eguments and eggs. The granulomatous l esion showed relatively mild inflammatory reaction with the infiltration of eosinophilic PMNs. The histological features of tunnel-like penetration of parasitic worms, and their teguments and eggs were competent with the diagnosis of sparganosis. Especially, although the patient had no experience of raw foods such as frog or snake, he used to drink the untreated natural stream water obtained in the mountain area of Gangwon prefecture in Korea. Therefore, the present study demonstrated a rare lesion of antral spanganosis, and we suppose that the frequent incident of oral sparganosis in Gangwon prefecture is possibly related to the usage of untreated stream water in the mountain area of Gangwon prefecture in Korea

In the previous molecular cloning study from human salivary gland cDNA l ibrary a novel clone (C77-091) was known as a candidate gene for antimicrobial protein by GenBank database search and RNA in situ hybridization. This study is aimed to identify the molecular characteristics of C77-091 protein, which showed an antimicrobial activity on E.coli, thereby named as salivary antimicrobial protein (SAMP). SAMP consisted of a typical hydrophobic amino acid rich domain in the N-terminus, a cluster of basic amino acids, carbohydrate attachment site, a possible transglutaminase catalyzed cross-linking site, and multiple consensus sequences of phosphorylation site in the C-terminus. Western blot analysis of human organs and tissue with the monospecific antibody to the synthetic SAMP peptide showed strong interacting protein from the extracts from submandibular gland and parotid saliva but absent in the mixed saliva, and the immunohistochemical staining detected a strong positive regions in the secretory granules in the luminal cytoplasm of interlobular ductal cells of salivary gland. The SAMP was also distributed in the human sebaceous gland and prostate. These data suggest that C77-091 named SAMP gene is a novel antimicrobial protein in human salivary gland, which may play a role for the innate immunity by protecting and stabilizing the mucosal epithelium to maintain homeostasis of oral mucosa.