Effects of Fam83h overexpression on enamel and dentine formation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if FAM83H over-expression causes dentine or enamel malformations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The full-length mouse Fam83h cDNA was inserted into the pCAGIG vector between a ß-actin promoter and ß-globin enhancer for ubiquitous expression in transgenic mice. Recombinant mouse FAM83H was expressed and used to generate polyclonal antibodies. Western blots showed enhanced expression of the Fam83h transgene. The effects of transgene expression on tooth development were assessed by microhardness measurements of enamel and dentine. Total thickness of incisor enamel at the level of the alveolar crest was measured and decussating rod patterns were visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). RESULTS: Three transgenic mouse lines were selected based upon their transgene expression levels. There was no statistically significant difference in the Vickers microhardness values of enamel or dentine between the transgenic lines or between the transgenic lines and wild type mice. No statistically significant differences in enamel thickness were observed between the transgenic lines and the wild type mice. SEM analysis revealed no apparent differences in the enamel crystal and rod morphologies. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that over-expression of FAM83H in mice does not produce a phenotype in dentine or enamel.

Novel FAM20A mutations in hypoplastic amelogenesis imperfecta.

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of inherited dental enamel defects without any other nonoral symptoms. Recently, a disease-causing nonsense mutation (c.406C>T) in a novel gene, FAM20A, was identified in a large consanguineous family affected by AI with gingival hyperplasia. We performed mutational analyses on nine AI families with similar phenotypes and identified three homozygous mutations (c.34_35delCT, c.813-2A>G, c.1175_1179delGGCTC) in three families and a compound heterozygous mutation (c.[590-2A>G] + [c.826C>T]) in one family. An in vitro splicing assay with a minigene confirmed the mutations located in the splicing acceptor site caused the deletion of exons 3 and 6, respectively. Taking into consideration the locations of the nonsense and frameshift mutations, the mutant transcripts are most likely degraded by nonsense-mediated mRNA degradation and it results in a loss of the FAM20A protein. This study confirms the importance of the FAM20A protein in enamel biomineralization as well as tooth eruption.