Cellular Systems for Studying Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

The human oral squamous epithelium plays an important role in maintaining a barrier function against mechanical, physical, and pathological injury. However, the self-renewing cells residing on the basement membrane of the epithelium can give rise to oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC), now the sixth most common cancer in the developed world, which is still associated with poor prognosis. This is due, in part, to the limited availability of well-defined culture systems for studying oral epithelial cell biology, which could advance our understanding of the molecular basis of OSCC. Here, we describe methods to successfully isolate large cultures of human oral epithelial cells and fibroblasts from small pieces of donor tissues for use in techniques such as three-dimensional cultures and animal grafts to validate genes suspected of playing a role in OSCC development and progression. Finally, the use of isolated oral epithelial cells in generating iPS cells is discussed which holds promise in the field of oral regenerative medicine.