YAP overexpression affects tooth morphogenesis and enamel knot patterning.

Teeth develop through distinct morphological stages. At the cap stage, a compactly clustered and concentrically arranged cell mass, the enamel knot, appears at the tip of the enamel organ. Cells in this knot express sets of key molecules, and as such have been proposed to act as a signaling center directing tooth morphogenesis and tooth cusp formation. YAP is a transcriptional co-activator of the Hippo signaling pathway that is essential for the proper regulation of organ growth. In this study, we analyzed the tooth phenotype in transgenic mice that overexpressed a constitutively active form of YAP in the dental epithelium. We found that overexpression of YAP resulted in deformed tooth morphogenesis with widened dental lamina. In addition, the enamel knot was mislocated to the upper portion of the enamel organ, where it remained devoid of proliferating cells and contained apoptotic cells with intense Edar transcripts and reduced E-cadherin expression. Interestingly, some signaling molecules, such as Shh, Fgf4, and Wnt10a, were not expressed in this mislocated enamel knot, but remained at the tip of the enamel organ. Analysis of these data suggests that the signaling center is induced by reciprocal epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, and its induction may be independent of the enamel knot.

Consequences for enamel development and mineralization resulting from loss of function of ameloblastin or enamelin.

Although the nonamelogenin proteins, ameloblastin and enamelin, are both low-abundance and rapidly degrading components of forming enamel, they seem to serve essential developmental functions, as suggested by findings that an enamel layer fails to appear on teeth of mice genetically engineered to produce either a truncated form of ameloblastin (exons 5 and 6 deleted) or no enamelin at all (null). The purpose of this study was to characterize, by direct micro weighing, changes in enamel mineralization occurring on maxillary and mandibular incisors of mice bred for these alterations in nonamelogenin function (Ambn(+/+, +/-5,6, -5,6/-5,6), Enam(+/+, +/- ,-/-)). The results indicated similar changes to enamel-mineralization patterns within the altered genotypes, including significant decreases by as much as 50% in the mineral content of maturing enamel from heterozygous mice and the formation of a thin, crusty, and disorganized mineralized layer, rather than true enamel, on the labial (occlusal) surfaces of incisors and molars along with ectopic calcifications within enamel organ cells in Ambn(-5,6/-5,6) and Enam(-/-) homozygous mice. These findings confirm that both ameloblastin and enamelin are required by ameloblasts to create an enamel layer by appositional growth as well as to assist in achieving its unique high level of mineralization.

[Effect of the Tabby mutation on the dentition of mice]. / Effets de la mutation Tabby sur la dentition chez la souris.

The X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia in man leads to dental defects and is homologous to the Tabby (Ta) mutation in mouse. We currently investigate the effects of the Ta mutation on odontogenesis. The incisor germ of Ta showed an abnormal size and shape, a change in the balance between prospective crown- and root-analogue tissues and retarded cytodifferentiation. Although the enamel organ in Ta incisors was smaller, a larger proportion of the dental papilla was covered by preameloblasts-ameloblasts. The independent development of the labial and lingual parts of the enamel organ in rodent lower incisor might reflect their heterogeneous origin, as demonstrated for the upper incisor. The mandibular cheek dentition in Ta mice exhibits large variations classified in five morphotypes, based on the tooth number, shape, size and position. In Ta embryos, the mesio-distal extent of the dental epithelium was similar to that in WT, but its segmentation was altered. These morphotypes could be explained by a tentative model suggesting that 1) the positions of tooth boundaries differ in Ta and WT molars and among the Ta morphotypes; 2) the tooth patterns are determined by the distal boundary of the most mesial tooth primordium while the distal teeth take advantage of the remaining dental epithelium; 3) one tooth primordium in Ta mice might derive from adjacent parts of two primordia in WT.

[Disturbances of the development of enamel-forming organ as an etiological factor in pulp diseases]. / Zaburzenia w rozwoju narzadu szkliwotwórczego jako czynnik etiologiczny chorób miazgi.

On the basis of a literature survey the author discusses the so called everted odontoma, a developmental anomaly of dental tissues which may lead to diseases of the pulp and periapical tissues. The method is described of treatment of periapical inflammatory conditions which may be due to these anomalies.

A new classification of heritable human enamel defects and a discussion of dentin defects.

rude paradigms for both nonsyndromic human heritable primary enamel defects and heritable primary dentin defects have been presented. Since such classifications are merely attempts to identify biologic patterns, their accuracy only can be determined mathematically, and thus must wait for pertinent quantifiable data.