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First published online December 28, 2004

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Touching a nerve in tooth development

Although there are times when we may wish our teeth lacked nerves, these nerves are required for the function and protection of our teeth. On p. 323, Kettunen and co-workers reveal that the expression of semaphorin 3a (Sema3a), a secreted repulsive axon guidance molecule, coordinates axon navigation and patterning with the formation of the first mandibular molar in mice. First, the researchers use knockout mice to show that Sema3a is essential for early tooth innervation. Then, in tissue recombination experiments, they show that Wnt4 expressed by early oral and dental epithelium induces Sema3a expression in the molar mesenchyme before the first nerve fibres arrive. Later on during the axon navigation of dental pioneer nerves, Wnt4 and Tgfß1 together control Sema3a expression in the dental mesenchyme. Thus, epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in developing teeth provide the instructions for the formation of their nerve supply.

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Related articles in Development:

Coordination of trigeminal axon navigation and patterning with tooth organ formation: epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, and epithelial Wnt4 and Tgfß1 regulate semaphorin 3a expression in the dental mesenchyme

Päivi Kettunen, Sigbjørn Løes, Tomasz Furmanek, Karianne Fjeld, Inger Hals Kvinnsland, Oded Behar, Takeshi Yagi, Hajime Fujisawa, Seppo Vainio, Masahiko Taniguchi, and Keijo Luukko
Development 2005 132: 323-334. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?