| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In this study, apotosis and the related immunocompetent cells were investigated. Rat incisors continue to grow until the animal dies. Therefore, they are convenient to study the whole life of dental pulp : initially it has large space filling with so-called dental pulp cells and large extracellular matrices including collagen, then it becomes smaller with continuing dentin formation by odontoblasts, and finally pulp space hardly exists at the eruptive tip of the incisors. When apototic frequency of the dental pulp was examined by the TUNEL method, it was revealed that apoptosis was only rarely observed in the apical (initial) pulp but that it was frequently seen in the incisal (eruptive) pulp. This fact suggests the involvement of apoptosis in the regulation of cell number in the dental pulp. To know the clean-up mechanism of the dead pulp cell fragments, incisor dental pulp was examined by immunocytochemistry of appropriate antibodiesdirected to macrophages and dendritic cells : OX6 f
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or MHC class II antigens of the dendritic cells and macrophages, ED1 for lysosomal antigens of macrophages and dendritic cells, ED2 for macrophage differentiation antigens, and anti-cystatin C antibody for the macrophages and undifferentiated and differentiating dendritic cells. OX6^+cystatin C^+ cells which may include differentiating dendritic cells were observed in the dental pulp. Cystatin C single positive cells observed in this study may show immature dendritic cells as well as macrophages, because the macrophages secrete cystatin C constitutively and ED2-positive macrophages with simple oval to complex dendritic morphology were detected in this study. These immunocytochemistry were performed with the digital camera-equipped fluorescence microscope and computer software for image analyses purchased for this research project. In conclusion, the pulp include dendritic cells with variable maturing states, and thereby apototic fragments were processed in the dental pulp, in addition to the contribution of the macrophages. Less
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