Umpiérrez NG, Sicco E, Silveira F, Beovide AV, Bologna-Molina R. Differences of immunohistochemical profiling of MOC-31, caveolin-1, connexin-43, Ki-67 in ameloblastic fibroma, ameloblastic fibrodentinoma, ameloblastic fibro-odontoma, and odontomas. World J Exp Med 2026; 16(1): 115508 [DOI: 10.5493/wjem.v16.i1.115508]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ronell Bologna-Molina, PhD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic in Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Republic, Las Heras 1925, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay. ronellbologna@hotmail.com
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Pathology
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Retrospective Cohort Study
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Mar 20, 2026 (publication date) through Mar 20, 2026
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World Journal of Experimental Medicine
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Umpiérrez NG, Sicco E, Silveira F, Beovide AV, Bologna-Molina R. Differences of immunohistochemical profiling of MOC-31, caveolin-1, connexin-43, Ki-67 in ameloblastic fibroma, ameloblastic fibrodentinoma, ameloblastic fibro-odontoma, and odontomas. World J Exp Med 2026; 16(1): 115508 [DOI: 10.5493/wjem.v16.i1.115508]
World J Exp Med. Mar 20, 2026; 16(1): 115508 Published online Mar 20, 2026. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v16.i1.115508
Differences of immunohistochemical profiling of MOC-31, caveolin-1, connexin-43, Ki-67 in ameloblastic fibroma, ameloblastic fibrodentinoma, ameloblastic fibro-odontoma, and odontomas
Natalia González Umpiérrez, Estefania Sicco, Felipe Silveira, Aurita Veronica Beovide, Ronell Bologna-Molina, Department of Diagnostic in Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Republic, Montevideo 14200, Uruguay
Author contributions: Umpiérrez NG contributed to data acquisition and analysis of data; Umpiérrez NG, Sicco E, Beovide V, and Bologna-Molina R contributed to conception and design of the study; Umpiérrez NG and Silveira FM contributed to the discussion of the results; Umpiérrez NG, Sicco E, Silveira FM, Beovide V, and Bologna-Molina R contributed to drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee, Exp. No. 091900-000084-21, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Republic, Uruguay.
Informed consent statement: All participants (or their legal guardians, when applicable) provided written informed consent prior to inclusion in the study in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and institutional ethical regulations.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. All data supporting the findings of this study were derived from anonymized and de-identified samples and images collected in accordance with institutional and ethical guidelines. Due to ethical restrictions and patient confidentiality agreements, raw histopathological and molecular data are not publicly available but can be shared upon justified academic request and approval by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Republic.
Corresponding author: Ronell Bologna-Molina, PhD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic in Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Republic, Las Heras 1925, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay. ronellbologna@hotmail.com
Received: October 20, 2025 Revised: November 3, 2025 Accepted: December 30, 2025 Published online: March 20, 2026 Processing time: 148 Days and 11.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Odontogenic tumors are a heterogeneous group of lesions originating from tissues involved in odontogenesis. Mixed odontogenic tumors comprise a group of lesions characterized by the presence of ectodermal and mesenchymal odontogenic tissues with or without the formation of hard dental tissues.
AIM
To determine and compare the expression of caveolin-1, MOC-31, connexin-43 (Cx-43), and Ki-67 in ameloblastic fibromas (AF), ameloblastic fibrodentinomas (AFD), ameloblastic fibro-odontomas (AFO), and odontomas (O).
METHODS
Immunohistochemical analysis for caveolin-1, MOC-31, Cx-43, and Ki-67 was performed on eight AF, one AFD, five AFO, and six O.
RESULTS
Variable protein expression was identified in the epithelium and mesenchyme of most AF, AFD, and AFO with lower expression observed in O. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed significant differences in protein expression between AF and O (P = 0.0085) and between AFO/AFD and O (P = 0.0250). When evaluating individual proteins, a significant difference in MOC-31 expression was observed between AF and O (P = 0.0310), while Cx-43 expression differed between AFO/AFD and O (P = 0.0022) and between AF and O (P = 0.0310). Additionally, protein expression decreased with increasing age (P ≤ 0.0100).
CONCLUSION
This immunohistochemical study suggested that the similarity in protein expression between AFD, AFO, and AF compared with O may be due to the biological proximity among these lesions at the protein expression level. Further studies with larger sample sizes and complementary techniques are required to validate these findings.
Core Tip: This study compared the immunohistochemical expression of caveolin-1, MOC-31, connexin-43, and Ki-67 in ameloblastic fibroma (AF), ameloblastic fibrodentinoma (AFD), ameloblastic fibro-odontoma (AFO), and odontoma (O). AF, AFD, and AFO showed similar epithelial and mesenchymal profiles with lower expression in O. Significant differences in MOC-31 and Cx-43 between AF/AFO and O suggest that AFD and AFO may represent variants of AF rather than developing odontomas. These findings contribute to understanding the biological behavior and classification of mixed odontogenic tumors.
