Expression pattern of hypoxia-related genes in odontogenic cysts.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to reveal the effects of hypoxia-associated signaling in odontogenic cysts.
Design: The expression levels of genes involved in the hypoxia-associated signaling pathway were determined by quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method.
Results: As a result, it was found that phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression was low (p = 0.037), and the expression levels of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) (p = 0.0127), hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1A) (p < 0.001), and HIF1A antisense RNA 1 (HIF1A-AS1) (p = 0.0218) were higher in cyst tissue compared to normal tissue. HIF1A gene expression was found to be significantly altered according to the pathologic subtypes of odontogenic keratocyst, dentigerous cyst, and radicular cyst.
Conclusions: Odontogenic cysts were found to have higher expression of HIF1A and HIF1A-AS1, which may be related to the increased hypoxia in these lesions. In addition, PI3K/Akt signaling may be stimulated by increased PIK3CA and decreased PTEN expression, which promote cell survival and support the mechanism of cyst formation.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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