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Regulation of Tooth Development by the Novel Type I TGFβ Family Member Receptor Alk8The Forsyth Institute, Department of Cytokine Biology and Harvard-Forsyth Department of Oral Biology, 140 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115
Department of Biomineralization, 140 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115
The Forsyth Institute, Department of Cytokine Biology and Harvard-Forsyth Department of Oral Biology, 140 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, pyelick{at}forsyth.org We have recently identified, in zebrafish, a novel type I receptor of the TGFβ family, alk8, that participates in Bmp signaling pathways to mediate early dorsoventral patterning of neurectodermal and mesendodermal tissues. Since Bmps play significant roles in tooth specification, initiation, and differentiation, we hypothesized that alk8 may play a role in directing the Bmp-mediated epithelial mesenchymal cell interactions regulating tooth development. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrates that Alk8 is expressed in developing zebrafish and mouse teeth. Examination of tooth development in zebrafish with disrupted alk8 signaling revealed specific defects in tooth development. Ectopic expression of constitutively active Alk8 results in the formation of elongated tooth structures, while expression of dominant-negative Alk8 results in arrested tooth development at the bud stage. These results are consistent with the established requirements for Bmp signaling in tooth development and demonstrate that Alk8 is a key regulator of tooth development.
Key Words: tooth specification and development bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) family member signaling Activin-like-kinase (Alk) receptors bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) epithelial-mesenchymal cell interactions
Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 80, No. 11,
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