The present study aimed to measure the expression of WNT1 in ameloblastoma (AB). Immunohistochemistry was used to observe changes in WNT1 expression in 80 AB samples, 10 keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) samples and 10 normal oral mucosa (NOM) samples. Western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to measure WNT1 protein and mRNA expression, respectively, in 30 AB samples, 5 KCOT samples, 5 NOM samples and 3 tooth germ samples. Ectopic cytoplasmic expression of WNT1 was detected in AB; 88.8% (71/80) of the samples were WNT1-positive. The western blotting results demonstrated that compared with NOM (0.57±0.05), WNT1 expression was significantly higher in AB tissue (1.74±0.36, P<0.05), whereas it was not significantly different between AB and KCOT samples (0.80±0.06, P>0.05). RT-qPCR revealed that the level of WNT1 gene expression in AB was increased 2.43-fold compared with normal mucosa, and 1.77-fold compared with tooth germ tissue. In conclusion, WNT1 protein and mRNA expression were increased in AB, and there was ectopic cytoplasmic expression. This indicates that WNT1 may serve an important role in AB occurrence and development.
Keywords: WNT1; ameloblastoma; immunohistochemistry; western blot.