Thesleff I
Research Program in Developmental Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, Viikki Biocenter, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Acta Odontol Scand. 2000 Oct;58(5):191-4. doi: 10.1080/000163500750051728.
Tooth development is under strict genetic control, and during recent years an increasing number of genes have been identified that are involved in the regulation of tooth morphogenesis. One of the organs in which development is now beginning to be understood at the gene level, the tooth is an example of a typical vertebrate organ starting as an epithelial bud and undergoing complex morphogenesis, regulated by interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal tissue layers. It has become evident that developmental regulatory genes have been conserved to a high degree during evolution and that similar gene networks regulate the development of teeth as of other vertebrate organs. So far, all genes that have been linked with early tooth morphogenesis have developmental regulatory functions in other organs, too. The majority of these genes are associated with the signaling pathways transmitting interactions between cells and tissues. They include genes encoding the actual signals as well as their receptors, mediators of signaling in the cytoplasm and transcription factors regulating gene expression in the nucleus. Deletion of the function of many of these genes in transgenic mice results in arrested tooth development, but all these mutants also show defects in many other tissues. Mutations in several of these genes in humans have been identified as causes of dental defects, mainly hypodontia.
牙齿发育受到严格的基因控制，近年来，越来越多参与牙齿形态发生调控的基因被鉴定出来。牙齿作为典型的脊椎动物器官，从上皮芽开始发育，经历复杂的形态发生过程，其发育过程目前已开始在基因水平上被理解。上皮组织和间充质组织层之间的相互作用调节着牙齿的发育。很明显，发育调控基因在进化过程中得到了高度保守，并且相似的基因网络调控着牙齿以及其他脊椎动物器官的发育。到目前为止，所有与早期牙齿形态发生相关的基因在其他器官中也都具有发育调控功能。这些基因中的大多数与传递细胞和组织间相互作用的信号通路有关。它们包括编码实际信号及其受体的基因、细胞质中信号传导的介质以及调节细胞核中基因表达的转录因子。在转基因小鼠中，许多这类基因功能的缺失会导致牙齿发育停滞，但所有这些突变体在许多其他组织中也表现出缺陷。在人类中，已确定这些基因中的几个基因发生突变是牙齿缺陷（主要是牙缺失）的原因。
