Does the calcification of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma resemble the calcium deposition of osteogenesis/odontogenesis?

作者：Qi Song tao^*; Yan Xiao rong; Pan Jun; Deng Yong jian; Liang Jin; Huang Guang long; Lu Yun tao; Ruan Jian; Li Xiang zhao; Xu Jia ming

来源：Histopathology, 2014, 64(3): 336-347.

DOI：10.1111/his.12071

• adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma
• bone morphogenetic protein-2
• osteogenesis
• odontogenesis
• Osterix
• Runx2

AimsCalcification in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP) is troublesome for surgical intervention. The aim of this study was to examine the osteogenic proteins that play important roles in the calcium deposition of the odontogenic/osteogenic tissues in craniopharyngioma.
Methods and resultsCraniopharyngiomas (n=89) were investigated for the presence and expression pattern of the osteoinductive/odontoinductive factor bone morphogenetic protein-2 (Bmp2) and two osteoblastic differentiation makers, Runt-related transcription factor-2 (Runx2) and Osterix, using immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Our results showed that Bmp2, Runx2 and Osterix levels increased in cases with high calcification and correlated positively with the degree of calcification in ACP, whereas they showed little or no expression in squamous papillary craniopharyngioma. In ACP, Bmp2 was expressed primarily in the stellate reticulum and whorl-like array cells; Runx2 and Osterix tended to be expressed in calcification-related epithelia, including whorl-like array cells and epithelia in/around wet keratin and calcification lesions.
ConclusionsOur study indicated, for the first time, that osteogenic factor Bmp2 may play an important role in the calcification of ACP via autocrine or paracrine mechanisms. Given the presence of osteogenic markers (Runx2 and Osterix), craniopharyngioma cells could differentiate into an osteoblast-like lineage, and the process of craniopharyngioma calcification resembles that which occurs in osteogenesis/odontogenesis.

• 出版日期2014-2
• 单位南方医科大学