2001 年 35 巻 2 号 p. 93-97
Decorin, which is a small dermatan sulfate proteoglycan(PG), is distributed throughout the extracellular matrix of periodontal tissues. Little is known about the synthesis of decorin in inflammatory gingival tissue, although it is considered a regulator of tissue inflammation. The purpose of this study was to compare the expression of decorin mRNA between healthy and inflamed gingival tissue in the same person.
Healthy and inflamed gingival tissues were obtained from a 74-year-old female with chronic adult periodontitis. Human gingival fibroblasts(Gin 1)in the stationary phase were also used as a control. Western blotting and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)were performed to determine decorin expression, and immunohistochemistry was used to localize its distribution. As a result, Western blot analysis demonstrated the presence of decorin core protein in both healthy and inflamed gingival tissued. Immunohistochemical observation using anti-decorin antibody detected positive stain only in the gingival connective tissue, not in the gingival epithelium. RT-PCR confirmed that both the tissues and the fibroblasts expressed decorin mRNA. However, the decorin mRNA level was significantly higher in the inflamed gingival tissue than in healthy gingiva, and was very low in the stationary cultured human gingival fibroblasts. These results indicate that the synthesis of decorin is increased in gingival tissue with chronic periodontal disease.
