Human Oral Mucosa: Development, Structure and Function is a new text that reflects the considerable increase in knowledge of oral mucosa that has occurred in recent years. Our understanding of the structure of oral mucosa is now established at a molecular rather than a tissue or cellular level. This in turn has revealed a level of function that was previously not suspected, including a sophisticated barrier to the penetration of exogenous materials, and the synthesis of specific antimicrobial compounds, representing components of the innate immune system.
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Preface vii 1 The functions of oral mucosa 3 1.1 Oral mucosa: What is it and what does it do? 3 1.2 Functions of the oral mucosa 5 References 7 2 The organization of oral mucosa 9 2.1 Clinical features 10 2.2 Component tissues and glands 14 References 16 3 Oral epithelium 19 3.1 Histological structure of oral epithelium 20 3.2 Epithelial proliferation and turnover 24 3.3 Molecular and cellular organization of oral epithelium 29 3.4 Non-keratinocytes in the oral epithelium 41 References 50 4 The interface between epithelium and connective tissue 53 4.1 Organization of the normal interface 55 4.2 Immune-mediated subepithelial blistering diseases (IMSEBDS) 57 References 58 5 Connective tissue 59 5.1 Lamina propria 59 5.2 Blood supply 68 5.3 Nerve supply 70 References 74 6 Regional differences in the oral mucosa 77 6.1 Structural variations in different regions 77 6.2 Junctions in the oral mucosa 85 References 97 7 Development and aging of the oral mucosa 99 7.1 Developmental stages of oral mucosa 100 7.2 The control of mucosal development: epithelial-mesenchymal interaction 104 7.3 Aging 106 References 109 8 Barrier functions of oral mucosa 113 8.1 The permeability barrier 114 8.2 Immunologic barrier function of oral mucosa 122 References 135 9 Homologies in structure and function among mucosae: oral, esophageal, and vaginal mucosa 145 9.1 Esophagus 145 9.2 Vagina 147 9.3 Organization of the tissues of esophagus and vagina 147 9.4 Non-keratinocytes in esophageal and vaginal mucosa 153 9.5 Infl ammatory cells 154 References 154 Index 159
