Roles of gap junction proteins in odontoblast differentiation

本课题通过生物信息学分析寻找调控成牙本质细胞分化的相关基因。我们发现pannexin家族的新成员pannexin3在牙齿cDNA文库中优先表达。原位杂交和免疫组化结果显示pannexin3在前成牙本质细胞层中有表达。为了分析pannexin3在成牙本质细胞中的功能，本研究使用小鼠牙乳头衍生细胞系mDP细胞。我们发现pannexin3通过释放细胞内ATP和激活AMPK信号通路来调节细胞增殖和分化。

In this project, we had performed bioinformatical analysis to find the responsible gene which regulate odontoblast differentiation. We had found that pannexin3, a new member of gap junction protein, pannexin family, was preferentially expressed in tooth cDNA library. In fact, in situ hybridization and immunostaining revealed that pannexin3 was expressed in preoodontoblast layer. To analyze the function of pannexin3 in odontoblast, mDP cell, a mouse dental papilla derived cell line, was used in this study. We found that pannexin3 regulate cell proliferation and differentiation by releasing intracellular ATP and activating AMPK signaling.