Department of Craniofacial Development, Dental Institute, King's College London, London SE1 9RT, United Kingdom.
Dev Biol. 2012 Jul 15;367(2):140-53. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2012.04.029. Epub 2012 May 4.
Rodent incisors are capable of growing continuously and the renewal of dental epithelium giving rise to enamel-forming ameloblasts and dental mesenchyme giving rise to dentin-forming odontoblasts and pulp cells is achieved by stem cells residing at their proximal ends. Although the dental epithelial stem cell niche (cervical loop) is well characterized, little is known about the dental mesenchymal stem cell niche. Ring1a/b are the core Polycomb repressive complex1 (PRC1) components that have recently also been found in a protein complex with BcoR (Bcl-6 interacting corepressor) and Fbxl10. During mouse incisor development, we found that genes encoding members of the PRC1 complex are strongly expressed in the incisor apical mesenchyme in an area that contains the cells with the highest proliferation rate in the tooth pulp, consistent with a location for transit amplifying cells. Analysis of Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) mice showed that loss of Ring1a/b postnatally results in defective cervical loops and disturbances of enamel and dentin formation in continuously growing incisors. To further characterize the defect found in Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) mice, we demonstrated that cell proliferation is dramatically reduced in the apical mesenchyme and cervical loop epithelium of Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) incisors in comparison to Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(fl/fl)cre- incisors. Fgf signaling and downstream targets that have been previously shown to be important in the maintenance of the dental epithelial stem cell compartment in the cervical loop are downregulated in Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) incisors. In addition, expression of other genes of the PRC1 complex is also altered. We also identified an essential postnatal requirement for Ring1 proteins in molar root formation. These results show that the PRC1 complex regulates the transit amplifying cell compartment of the dental mesenchymal stem cell niche and cell differentiation in developing mouse incisors and is required for molar root formation.
啮齿动物的门齿能够持续生长,而牙齿上皮的更新产生釉质形成的成釉细胞和牙齿间质产生牙本质形成的成牙本质细胞和牙髓细胞则是由位于其近端的干细胞实现的。尽管牙齿上皮干细胞龛(颈环)已经得到很好的描述,但对于牙齿间质干细胞龛知之甚少。Ring1a/b 是多梳抑制复合物 1(PRC1)的核心组成部分,最近也在与 Bcl-6 相互作用的核心抑制因子(BcoR)和 Fbxl10 的蛋白质复合物中被发现。在小鼠门齿发育过程中,我们发现 PRC1 复合物的基因在门齿根尖间质中强烈表达,该区域包含牙髓中增殖率最高的细胞,与过渡扩增细胞的位置一致。Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) 小鼠的分析表明,出生后 Ring1a/b 的缺失导致颈环缺陷,并导致不断生长的门齿中釉质和牙本质形成紊乱。为了进一步表征 Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) 小鼠中发现的缺陷,我们证明与 Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(fl/fl)cre- 门齿相比,Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) 门齿的根尖间质和颈环上皮中的细胞增殖显著减少。先前已显示在颈环中维持牙齿上皮干细胞区室中重要的 Fgf 信号和下游靶标在 Ring1a(-/-);Ring1b(cko/cko) 门齿中下调。此外,PRC1 复合物的其他基因的表达也发生改变。我们还确定了 Ring1 蛋白在磨牙根形成中出生后必需的作用。这些结果表明,PRC1 复合物调节牙齿间质干细胞龛的过渡扩增细胞区室和发育中小鼠门齿的细胞分化,并需要磨牙根形成。