Function analysis of F-spondin during periodontal ligament development

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25862032
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Orthodontics/Pediatric dentistry
• Research Institution: Tokyo Dental College
• Principal Investigator: Homma Hiromi 東京歯科大学, 歯学部, 助教 (80637760)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 歯根膜 / 細胞外マトリックス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that form the periodontal tissue originated from the dental follicle, the functional analysis of genes specifically expressed in the dental follicle was performed. It was shown that F-spondin was strongly expressed in the dental follicle of the bell stage and suppressed the differentiation of dental mesenchymal cells by inhibiting the TGF-β signaling. As a result, dental mesenchymal cells remained to be an undifferentiated state. When the expression level of the F-spondin was reduced in late stage of tooth development, the maturation of periodontal ligament was observed. There seemed to be two ways that suppressed TGF-β signaling by F-spondin; first, the direct binding between TGF-β and F-spondin; second, the function of activated intracellular signaling pathway by binding between F-spondin and a cell membrane protein.

Free Research Field

小児歯科