title: Bone morphogenetic protein 4 is involved in cusp formation in molar tooth germ of mice.
abstract: In order to clarify the role of BMP4 in the development of the tooth crown, we employed the antisense technique on molar tooth germs removed from the mandibles of embryonic 13.5-d-old mice. In the tooth germ explants incubated for 14 d with antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (AS-ODN) against Bmp4 (a) cusps were not formed, whereas dentin matrix was secreted in the whole region of the crown, (b) inner enamel epithelial (IEE) cells remained in the undifferentiated state in the occlusal region of the crown, though they differentiated in the proximal region (lateral surface region of tooth crown), and (c) insufficient growth of the dental papilla was observed. A 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) uptake experiment showed that, although a site-specific proliferation of IEE cells occurred in the occlusal region in the control explants, it was not found in the AS-ODN-treated explants. In the proximal region, however, the proliferation of IEE cells was detected evenly in all explants treated with or without AS-ODNs. These results suggest that AS-ODN against Bmp4 inhibited the differentiation and the site-specific proliferation of IEE cells in the occlusal region of molar tooth germs, resulting in the suppression of cusp formation. Our data thus suggest that BMP4 is involved in cusp formation and differentiation of ameloblasts in the occlusal region of molars.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan. mtabata@denta.hal.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Makoto J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tabata
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Ji-Guang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Tomoharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wakisaka
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Kojiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurisu
mesh_terms: D000565:Ameloblasts / Q000187:drug effects; D000566:Amelogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008963:Molar / Q000196:embryology; D020319:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000187:drug effects; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019228:Tooth Crown / Q000196:embryology*; D014083:Tooth Germ / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: C525810:Bmp4 protein, mouse; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D020319:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger