Molecular mechanisms of ghost cell formation and calcification in calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor (CCOT) cell lines

钙化性囊性牙源性肿瘤(CCOT)的组织病理学特征是出现鬼影细胞。然而，它们的组织病理机制一直知之甚少。为了了解幽灵细胞形成的细胞机制，我们成功地从CCOT手术标本中建立了细胞系。利用这些CCOT细胞，我们成功地证明了鬼细胞是由于包括Perlecan在内的细胞外基质分子在细胞内沉积而产生的，它们的钙化是在这些基质中开始的，并通过沉积的基质向其去核形式的蛋白质分解来完成。

Calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor (CCOT) is histopathologically characterized by the emergence of ghost cells. However, their histopathogenesis has been poorly understood. To understand the cellular mechanism towards ghost cell formation, we have successfully established of cell lines from a CCOT surgical specimen. Using these CCOT cells, we successfully demonstrated that ghost cells were generated due to intracellular deposits of extracellular matrix molecules including perlecan, and that their calcification was started in those matrices and completed by proteolysis of deposited matrices towards their denucleated forms.