Importance of Periostin in Periodontal Homeostasis and Pathogenesis

描述（由申请人提供）：牙周病影响了世界上很大一部分人口。对牙周病发病机制的新认识应该包括牙周组织对细菌和慢性牙周炎症反应的分子生物学动力学。了解这些事件的顺序使我们能够描绘出重要的临床意义，这将使我们能够确定疾病活动，同时增加我们对患者对牙周破裂易感性背后的分子网络的理解。牙周蛋白是一种与组织完整性和成熟相关的基质细胞蛋白，被认为在牙周组织中具有一定的功能。我们假设牙周素水平对牙周内环境平衡和牙周病的发病机制至关重要，并建议开展有关牙周素在牙周功能和牙周疾病中的作用的研究，具体目的如下：1-确定牙周素调节的生物力学机制。目的2：探讨牙周细菌和促炎细胞因子对牙周蛋白水平的影响。目的3：探讨骨膜素对体内牙周稳定性的保护作用。像牙周蛋白这样的分子作为潜在的新型生物标志物，对帮助我们理解与细胞-基质动力学和体内平衡相关的牙周生物学具有重要意义。总的来说，现有的证据和对分子动力学的不断发展的理解决定了患者对由牙周病原体引发的牙周破裂的易感性，这将有助于临床医生完成复杂的任务，即确定重要的病因因素，这些病因因素可以作为治疗炎症性牙周病的目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Periodontal diseases affect a large proportion of the world's population. New insights into periodontal disease pathogenesis should incorporate the molecular biology dynamics that the periodontium undergoes in response to bacteria and chronic periodontal inflammation. Understanding this sequence of events allows us to delineate important clinical implications that would enable us to determine disease activity while increasing our understanding of the molecular networks behind the patient's susceptibility to periodontal breakdown. Periostin is a matricellular protein relevant for tissue integrity and maturation and is believed to have a function in the periodontium. We hypothesize that Periostin levels are important for proper periodontal homeostasis and periodontal disease pathogenesis and propose conducting studies on the role of Periostin in periodontal function and disease with the following specific aims: Specific Aim 1- To determine the biomechanical mechanism of Periostin regulation. Specific Aim 2- To evaluate the effect of periodontal bacteria and proinflammatory cytokines on Periostin levels. Specific Aim 3- To analyze the protective role of Periostin on periodontal stability in-vivo. Molecules such as Periostin serve as potential novel biomarkers with significant implications to aid in our understanding of periodontal biology relevant to cell-matrix dynamics and homeostasis. Collectively, the available evidence and evolving understanding of the molecular dynamics that determine a patient's susceptibility to periodontal breakdown triggered by periodontal pathogens would assist clinicians on the complex task of identifying important etiologic contributors that could be targeted in the treatment of inflammatory periodontal diseases.