Regulation mechanism of differentiation of dental epithelial cells induced by glycoshingolipids.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A number of growth factors, including neurotrophic factor NT-4, and their receptors mediate reciprocal epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that regulate the differentiation of ameloblasts and odontoblasts in tooth development. Glycosphingolipids are involved in a variety of membrane-associated cell physiological functions. In this study, we identified strong expressions of GM3 and LacCer in dental epithelium, which give rise to differentiation into ameloblasts. We obtained the results from some experiments suggesting that GM3 and LacCer are essential for NT-4-mediated Ambn gene expression and contribute to dental epithelial cell differentiation into ameloblasts.