Possible involvement of melatonin in tooth development: expression of melatonin 1a receptor in human and mouse tooth germs
Possible involvement of melatonin in tooth development: expression of melatonin 1a receptor in human and mouse tooth germs
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s00418-010-0698-6
复制
发表时间：
2010-05-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Satomura, Kazuhito
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kumasaka, Shuku;Shimozuma, Masashi;Satomura, Kazuhito
已知褪黑激素可调节多种生理过程，包括控制昼夜节律、调节季节性生殖功能、调节体温、清除自由基等。体外和体内实验的积累证据也表明褪黑激素可能对骨骼生长和骨形成有影响。然而，人们对褪黑激素对牙齿发育和生长的影响知之甚少，因此仍有待阐明。这项研究的目的是检验褪黑激素可能对牙齿发育和骨骼生长产生影响的可能性。免疫组织化学分析显示，褪黑素1a受体（Mel1aR）在分泌性成釉细胞、中间层和星状网细胞、外部牙上皮细胞、成牙本质细胞和牙囊细胞中表达。逆转录聚合酶链反应和Western blot分析显示，大鼠牙上皮细胞系HAT-7表达Mel1aR，且细胞汇合后表达量增加。这些结果强烈表明褪黑激素可能通过调节牙胚中牙源细胞的细胞功能在牙齿发育/生长中发挥生理作用。
Melatonin is known to regulate a variety of physiological processes including control of circadian rhythms, regulation of seasonal reproductive function, regulation of body temperature, free radical scavenging, and so forth. Accumulating evidence from in vitro and in vivo experiments has also suggested that melatonin may have an influence on skeletal growth and bone formation. However, little is known about the effects of melatonin on tooth development and growth, which thus remain to be elucidated. This study was performed to examine the possibility that melatonin might exert its influence on tooth development as well as skeletal growth. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that melatonin 1a receptor (Mel1aR) was expressed in secretory ameloblasts, the cells of the stratum intermedium and stellate reticulum, external dental epithelial cells, odontoblasts, and dental sac cells. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis showed that HAT-7, a rat dental epithelial cell line, expressed Mel1aR and its expression levels increased after the cells reached confluence. These results strongly suggest that melatonin may play a physiological role in tooth development/growth by regulating the cellular function of odontogenic cells in tooth germs.