Effects of Emdogain on osteoblast gene expression.
OBJECTIVE
Emdogain (EMD) is a protein extract purified from porcine enamel and has been introduced in clinical practice to obtain periodontal regeneration. EMD is composed mainly of amelogenins (90%), while the remaining 10% is composed of non-amelogenin enamel matrix proteins such as enamelins, tuftelin, amelin and ameloblastin. Enamel matrix proteins seem to be involved in root formation. EMD has been reported to promote proliferation, migration, adhesion and differentiation of cells associated with healing periodontal tissues in vivo.


METHODS
How this protein acts on osteoblasts is poorly understood. We therefore attempted to address this question by using a microarray technique to identify genes that are differently regulated in osteoblasts exposed to enamel matrix proteins.


RESULTS
By using DNA microarrays containing 20,000 genes, we identified several upregulated and downregulated genes in the osteoblast-like cell line (MG-63) cultured with enamel matrix proteins (Emd). The differentially expressed genes cover a broad range of functional activities: (i) signaling transduction, (ii) transcription, (iii) translation, (iv) cell cycle regulation, proliferation and apoptosis, (v) immune system, (vi) vesicular transport and lysosome activity, and (vii) cytoskeleton, cell adhesion and extracellular matrix production.


CONCLUSIONS
The data reported are the first genome-wide scan of the effect of enamel matrix proteins on osteoblast-like cells. These results can contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of bone regeneration and as a model for comparing other materials with similar clinical effects.
Carinci
F
F
Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Piattelli
A
A
Guida
L
L
Perrotti
V
V
Laino
G
G
Oliva
A
A
Annunziata
M
M
Palmieri
A
A
Pezzetti
F
F
D000818:Animals; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000235:genetics*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003746:Dental Enamel Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000187:drug effects*; D013552:Swine
D003746:Dental Enamel Proteins; C109069:enamel matrix proteins