Desmosomal protein regulation and clinical implications in oral mucosal tissues

Cell-adhesion complex within a tissue is important for its stability, structural integrity, functioning, cellular migration and morphogenesis. Disruption of desmosomal cell-adhesions complex results in epithelial conditions such as epidermolysis bullosa and bullous pemphigoid. Desmosome assembly and disassembly is regulated post-translationally by calcium, kinase/phosphatase activity, proteolytic processing, and also through adhesive junctions. Altered functions of desmosomal proteins desmocollin and desmoglein can cause blistering disorders, such as pemphigus foliaceus and pemphigus vulgaris, and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma while defective desmoplakin can cause supra-basal clefting in epithelium and conditions such as Carvajal syndrome, palmo-plantar keratoderma etc. This review summarises major functions of demosomal complex family and how mis-regulation of demosomal structural proteins occur in pathogenesis of non-, pre- and malignant oral lesions with disrupted epithelium.

Keywords: Desmosomal proteins, Oral mucosal lesion, Junctional complexes, Oral epithelium..