[The expression and distribution of Smad 2 in human tooth germ].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of Smad 2 gene in human tooth germ,and the possible function of Smad 2 during human tooth germ development.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical staining on prepared specimens of different stages of developing human tooth germ.


RESULTS
Smad 2 expression had specific temporal-spatial pattern during tooth germ development, which was similar to TGF-beta.


CONCLUSIONS
The expression of Smad 2 gene in tooth germ was detected in different stages of human tooth germ. The results suggest that Smad 2, one of the intracellular downstream molecules of TGF-beta, and as an inductive signal mediating epithelial-mesenchymal interaction, may regulate the differentiation of ameloblast and odontoblast cells, and modulate dentinogenesis and amelogenesis.
School of Stomatology, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
W X
WX
He
Z Y
ZY
Niu
S L
SL
Zhao
J
J
Chen