Journal of Dental Research, Vol 72, 1336-1343, Copyright © 1993 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Immunohistochemical studies on the distributions and age-related changes of types I and III collagen in the oral mucosa of mice
L. X. Xu, Y. Ohsaki, K. Nagata and K. Kurisu
Second Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Dentistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
The distribution of types I and III collagen in mouse oral mucosa and the
age-related changes over 3 days to 2 years of age were examined by
immuno-fluorescence and -electron microscopy, with use of affinity-purified
polyclonal antibodies. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that types I
and III collagen existed in all tissues and at all ages examined. The
staining intensity for type I collagen was stronger and increased more
markedly in the lamina propria of the hard palate (HPlp) and gingiva (G),
compared with that in the submucosa of the hard palate (HPsm) and the
buccal mucosa (BM). The staining intensity for type III collagen was strong
and increased markedly with age in all connective tissues examined.
Examination of immunogold-labeled tissues demonstrated that most of the
collagen fibrils were labeled for both type I and type III collagen, which
suggests that they were hybrid fibrils containing both types of collagen.
The quantitative evaluation of the labeling densities of gold particles
revealed that the labeling density of type III collagen in BM and HPsm was
higher and increased more rapidly during growth than in HPlp and G, while
the labeling density of type I collagen was higher in HPlp and G. The
fibril diameters in HPlp were larger and increased more rapidly during
growth than in BM and HPsm. These studies are the first to demonstrate the
distribution of types I and III collagen and their age-related changes in
mouse oral mucosa.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
