The role of microRNAs in lip and palate development.

• Project/Area Number: 26861545
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Morphological basic dentistry
• Research Institution: Niigata University
• Principal Investigator: KAWASAKI Maiko 新潟大学, 医歯学総合病院, 助教 (40584587)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-02-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
• Keywords: miRNA / 口蓋裂 / 口唇裂 / 口唇・口蓋形成 / エピジェネティック制御

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The role of microRNAs in lip and palate development was investigated in this study. In order to examine microRNA function, we generated mice with mutation of Dicer, which is an essential molecule for microRNA processing. Mice with epithelial conditional mutation of Dicer exhibited no significant anomalies in the lip or palatal tissues. However, mice with neural crest-derived cell conditional mutation of Dicer showed clefting of the lip and palate, suggesting that microRNAs in neural crest-derived cells play a critical role in lip and palate development. The palatal cleft was found to be caused by failure of palatal shelf elevation, with defects in anterior mandible process formation leading to clefting of the lip.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Excess NF-kB induces ectopic odontogenesis in embryonic incisor epithelium. (2015)
  • Author(s): Blackburn, J., Kawasaki, K., Porntaveetus, T., Kawasaki, M., Otsuka-Tanaka, Y., Miake, Y., Ota, M.S., Watanabe, M., Hishinuma, M., Nomoto, T., Oommen, S., Ghafoor, S., Harada, F., Nozawa-Inoue, K., Maeda, T., Peterková, R., Lesot, H., Inoue, J., Akiyama, T.,
  • Journal Title: J. Dent. Res Volume: 94 Issue: 1 Pages: 121-128
  • DOI: 10.1177/0022034514556707
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Expression of Sox genes in tooth development. (2015)
  • Author(s): Kawasaki K, Kawasaki M, Watanabe M, Idrus E, Nagai T, Oommen S, Maeda T, Hagiwara N, Que J, Sharpe PT, Ohazama A.
  • Journal Title: Int J Dev Biol. Volume: 59(10-12) Issue: 10-11-12 Pages: 471-478
  • DOI: 10.1387/ijdb.150192ao
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] PKA regulatory subunit expression in tooth development. (2014)
  • Author(s): de Sousa SF, Kawasaki K, Kawasaki M, Ohazama A, et al.
  • Journal Title: Gene Expr Patterns. Volume: 15(1) Issue: 1 Pages: 46-51
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.gep.2014.04.002
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] R-spondins/Lgrs expression in tooth development. (2014)
  • Author(s): Kawasaki M, Porntaveetus T, Kawasaki K, Oommen S, Otsuka-Tanaka Y, Hishinuma M, Nomoto T, Maeda T, Takubo K, Suda T, Sharpe PT, Ohazama A.
  • Journal Title: Dev Dyn. Volume: 243 Issue: 6 Pages: 844-851
  • DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.24124
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access