2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

FGFR2b signaling controls the differentiation and function of Dental Pulp Stem Cells

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20592294
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Prosthetic dentistry
Research Institution	Osaka Dental University
Principal Investigator	KUREMOTO Koh-Ichi Osaka Dental University, 歯学部, 助教 (90319583)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	MAEDA Teruta 大阪歯科大学, 歯学部附属病院, 教授 (10103110)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	YAMAZA Takayoshi 九州大学, 歯学部, 助教 (80304814)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2010
Keywords	FGF / 歯髄幹細胞 / 象牙質再生
Research Abstract	Rodent incisors regenerate throughout the animal lifetime as a result of the continuous deposition of enamel, the hardest component of the tooth, by ameloblasts. Putative dental epithelial stem cells (DESCs) reside at the base of the incisors in a structure called the cervical loop (CL). The DESCs can self renew and give rise to ameloblast progenitor cells (APCs), which proliferate and differentiate into ameloblasts producing enamel. In this study, we explored the role of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2b (FGFR2b) signaling during incisor homeostasis in the adult mice. FGFR2b signaling plays a critical role in the regenerative capacity of adult incisors by controlling the proliferation of transit amplifying APCs, but not by regulating the survival of DESCs.