Expression of transmembrane protein Aquaporin- 3 in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma

ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate Aquaporin-3 (AQP3) expression in patient samples of oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), thereby assessing the potential of AQP3 as a molecular marker for tumour progression. Study Design An in vitro comparative study was done to determine the AQP3 expression on 20 surgical biopsy specimens each of OED and OSCC, using immunohistochemistry. 20 specimens of normal oral mucosa were kept as control. The results were statistically analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc analysis. Results The expression of AQP3 was analysed and further semiquantified with H-score. The mean H-score showed a statistically significant difference between OSCC, OED and normal oral mucosa with a P Conclusion The observations of the study signify that staining intensity of AQP3 increased from dysplastic non-invasive lesion to invasive OSCC, suggesting a possible role of AQP3 as a biomarker for tumour progression.