The junctional epithelium (JE) is at the front site of defense against microorganisms. However, the immunological characteristics of the JE and migrating cells within the JE are unclear. We examined the immunohistochemical expression of cell adhesion molecules(CAMs) on the JE and the cell surface markers on the migrating cells. In gingival epithelium, only the JE expressed intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Three distinct layers in the JE could be identified by the intensities of ICAM-1 expression; both side layers (ICAM-1high) facing the tooth surface or oral epithelium (OE), and the middle layer (ICAM-1low). Lymphocyte-function associated antigen-1 (LFA-1+) cells were uniformly distributed in the JE. Gr-1+ cells were located at both side layers, while CD3+ cells were detected in the middle layer. Most of the CD3+ cells expressed a T cell receptor γδ (TCRγδ). These results indicated that JE expressed ICAM-1 constitutively, that the interaction of LFA-1 and ICAM-1 might be a key role for the migration of cells into the JE, and that most of migrating cells were neutrophils and TCRγδ+ T cells.
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Fujioka et al. (2009) studied this question.