An Investigation of the Differences in Cortactin, MT1-MMP, TKS4, and TKS5 Immunoexpression Between Central and Peripheral Giant Cell Granulomas.

Background: Central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) is a benign and locally confined osteolytic lesion that occasionally exhibits aggressive behavior, while the peripheral giant cell granuloma (PGCG) is a reactive lesion with localized proliferation. Both lesions present similar histological characteristics.

Objective: To compare the immunoexpression of the main invadopodia-related proteins in CGCG and PGCG in the jaws.

Methods: 30 CGCG and 12 PGCG biopsied at the oral and maxillofacial pathology departments of three universities were evaluated. The expression of cortactin, MT1-MMP, TKS4, and TKS5, in spindle-shaped and polygonal mononuclear cells (SPMC) and multinucleated giant cells (MGC) was observed through immunohistochemistry, and the labeled areas were semi-automatically detected by an image processing software equipped with an efficient color detection plugin. The percentages of labeled areas in MGC and SPMC for both lesions were statistically compared at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Results: The expressions of all evaluated proteins in MGC were significantly higher for CGCG than PGCG (p < 0.05). Regarding SPMC, only the expressions of cortactin and TKS5 were significantly higher expressed in CGCG than in PGCG (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The significantly higher expressions of cortactin (MGC, SPMC), TKS4 (MGC), TKS5 (MGC, SPMC), and MT1-MMP (MGC) in CGCG may partially explain its greater invasiveness/aggressiveness.