title: The tick tock of odontogenesis.
abstract: Although a big deal of dental research is being focused to the understanding of early stages of tooth development, a huge gap exist on our knowledge on how the dental hard tissues are formed and how this process is controlled daily in order to produce very complex and diverse tooth shapes adapted for specific functions. Emerging evidence suggests that clock genes, a family of genes that controls circadian functions within our bodies, regulate also dental mineralized tissues formation. Enamel formation, for example, is subjected to rhythmical molecular signals that occur on short (24h) periods and control the secretion and maturation of the enamel matrix. Accordingly, gene expression and ameloblast functions are also tightly modulated in regular daily intervals. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the circadian controls of dental mineralized tissues development with a special emphasis on amelogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ehardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McAlpin
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, 13288, Marseille cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: About
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Doohak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papagerakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Organogenesis, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: petrosp@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papagerakis
mesh_terms: D000566:Amelogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D009805:Odontogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Ameloblasts; Bone; Cementum; Circadian rhythms; Clock genes; Odontoblasts