Cell proliferation kinetics of the internal enamel epithelium of mouse incisors

Influence of Occlusion on the Cellular Activity of Mouse Mandibular Incisors

The influence of occlusion on cellular activity of mouse mandibular incisors was evaluated by determining the age at the time of eruption and initial occlusal contact and by correlating this information with the ratio of tritiated thymidine-labeled cells of the various cell populations at different stages of eruption and occlusion.

An immunohistochemical study of the expression of heat-shock protein-25 and cell proliferation in the dental pulp and enamel organ during odontogenesis in rat molars

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to clarify the functional significance of heat-shock protein (HSP)-25 during tooth development.

DESIGN

We compared the expression of HSP-25 in the dental epithelial and mesenchymal cells with their proliferative activity during odontogenesis in rat molars on postnatal days 1-100 by immunohistochemistry using anti-HSP-25 and anti-5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) for cell proliferation assay.

RESULTS

On day 1, BrdU-immunoreactive cells were densely located in the inner enamel epithelium in the cervical loop and intercusped areas and the dental pulp adjacent to them, whereas HSP-25-immunoractivity (IR) was restricted to the cusped area where odontoblasts and ameloblasts had already differentiated. Subsequently, BrdU-IR shifted in the apical direction to be localized around Hertwig's epithelial root sheath during days 5-30, never overlapping with concomitantly apically-shifted HSP-25-IR. On days 60-100, BrdU-immunoreactive cells were hardly recognizable in the dental pulp, where HSP-25-IR was exclusively localized in the odontoblast layer. Furthermore, the odontoblast- and ameloblast-lineage cells exhibited two steps in the expression of HSP-25 throughout the postnatal stages: first, dental epithelial and pulpal mesenchymal cells showed a weak IR for HSP-25 after the cessation of their proliferative activity, and subsequently odontoblasts and ameloblasts consistently expressed an intense HSP-25-IR.

CONCLUSION

Odontoblast- and ameloblast-lineage cells acquire HSP-25-IR after they complete their cell division, suggesting that this protein acts as a switch between cell proliferation and differentiation during tooth development. The consistent expression of HSP-25-IR in the formative cells may be involved in the maintenance of their functional integrity.

Application of immunocytochemistry for detection of proliferating cell populations during tooth development

BACKGROUND

The production of monoclonal antibodies to cell cycle-related molecules provides the basis for immunochemical studies on cell kinetics.

METHODS

Immunocytochemistry permits the tissue localization of replicating cells, whereas flow cytometry defines the exact position of immunoreactive cells in the cell cycle and ensures a quantitative analysis of the growth fraction. Bromo-deoxyuridine-antibody can be used to reveal S phase-traversing cells, whereas the immunoreactivity for the Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen defines the G1, S, and G2-M subpopulations of the cell cycle.

RESULTS

Odontogenic cells produce secretory products (e.g., enamel and dentine matrix proteins and growth factors) and express receptors and oncogenes during specific stages of their differentiation.

CONCLUSIONS

The simultaneous detection of cell cycle-related antigens and differentiation markers using double immunochemical staining may be useful to clarify the role of putative regulatory molecules in the control of cell growth during odontogenesis, thus unveiling molecular mechanisms that regulate developmental dynamics.

Effect of vinblastine on the cell cycle and migration of ameloblasts of mouse incisors as shown by autoradiography using 3H-thymidine

The effects of vinblastine on the cell cycle and the migration of ameloblasts were studied in the lower incisors of mice by labelling the cells with 3H-thymidine ([3H]TdR) and radioautography. A group of mice received 2 micrograms/g of body weight vinblastine intraperitoneally and 6 hr after these animals and those of a control group were injected with 1 microCi/g body weight of [3H]TdR, and sacrificed at time intervals from 0.75 hr to 15 days. The generation time of ameloblasts in the progenitor compartment was 14.8 hr in animals treated with vinblastine and 17 hr in the controls, using the FLM curve method; with the grain dilution method the duration was respectively 29.25 hr and 25.96 hr. The thymidine labelling index of the treated animals was 50% higher than the controls. The velocity of ameloblast migration, determined either by the displacement of the most incisally labelled cell or by the grain dilution method, was lower in the experimental group (2.48 cell positions/hr and 9.18 microns/hr respectively) as compared with the control (3.21 cell positions/hr and 18.88 microns/hr respectively). The results on the ameloblast production rate are contradictory but the slowing down in the velocity of cell migration is compatible with a decrease of the rate of cell production in the progenitor compartment as a vinblastine effect.

Proliferation and migration of rat incisor mesenchymal cells

Sixty female Wistar rats were injected with tritiated thymidine and killed at intervals between 1 hr and 72 hr after injection. Autoradiographs of paraffin and Vestopal W embedded sagittal sections of the maxillary incisors were prepared. The distribution of labeled cells after 1 hr revealed the basal pulp cells and the preodontoblasts as proliferative cells. The growth rate of the incisor and the migration of the basal pulp cells were established from the position of labeled cells at 72 hr observation time. The number and localization of labeled and unlabeled mitoses were registered in order to determine the duration of the generation cycle of the proliferative cells. The identical cell generation time of preodontoblasts and basal pulp cells and the migration pattern of the latter indicate that the preodontoblasts are renewed by preodontoblast multiplication and not by migration of basal pulp cells.

Cell turnover in the odontogenic organ of the rat incisor as visualized by graphic reconstructions following a single injection of 3H-thymidine

Turnover of cells within the odontogenic organ was studied in three dimensions by preparing serial sections of incisors from young male rats killed at various times following a single intraperitoneal injection of 1 muCi/g body weight of 3H-thymidine. Radioautographs showed that at 1 hour after injection labeled cells were present in all cell layers throughout the entire depth of the odontogenic organ. They were encountered frequently within the inner dental epithelium and stratum intermedium but appeared less abundant within the stellate reticulum and outer dental epithelium. With time, the frequency of labeled cells in each layer declined progressively, and more rapidly at the anterior and labial side of the odontogenic organ than toward its posterior and lingual side. Hence labeled cells were observed over the longest time interval in regions where cell layers were in closest proximity to the opening of the apical foramen, that is, near the apical and cervical loops. By 32 days after injection, numerous labeled cells could still be identified within the outer dental epithelium and stellate reticulum near the apical loop (bulbous part of the odontogenic organ) and the outer dental epithelium near the cervical loops ("U"-shaped part of the odontogenic organ). These findings support the hypothesis that cells originate within the bulbous part of the odontogenic organ and migrate anteriorly through the "U"-shaped and root sheath parts of the odontogenic organ during renewal of the incisor. It appears that individual stem cell compartments may be maintained for surface (outer/inner dental epithelium) and intermediate layers (stellate reticulum/stratum intermedium) in the odontogenic epithelium.

Movement of entire cell populations during renewal of the rat incisor as shown by radoioautography after labeling with 3H-thymidine. The concept of a continuously differentiating cross-sectional segment. (With an appendix on the development of the periodontal ligament)

Renewal of the rat incisor was studied in three dimensions by employing a serial cross-sectioning technique to locate the boundary between labeled and unlabeled cells in the enamel organ and odontoblast layer at various times after a single injection of 3H-thymidine. This boundary, or leading edge of the front of labeling, was graphically illustrated through point-plotting reconstruction of the labial surface of the incisor. At one hour after the injection of 3H-thymidine the front of labeled ameloblasts was located within the presecretory zone related to early predentin secretion. This front formed a "C"-shaped curve stretching across the labial surface of the tooth from the lateral to the mesial cemento-enamel junction. The "C" was open anteriorly and the lateral arm extended almost twice as far incisally as the mesial arm. The edge of the front of labeled odontoblasts was positioned apical to and parallel with this "C"-shaped curve. The morphological appearance of all cells along each respective front was found to be similar. As the fronts of labeled ameloblasts and labeled odontoblasts moved forward with the erupting incisor, the cells along these fronts differentiated simultaneously and subsequently formed enamel and dentin. Throughout this movement the distance between fixed points along the leading edge of the front of labeled ameloblasts, and its positional relationship to the front of labeled odontoblasts, did not change appreciably. This indicated that cells of the tooth were being carried incisally at a uniform speed. It was concluded that renewal in the rat incisor consists of the generation by the bulbous part of the odontogenic organ of epithelial "U"-shaped cross-sectional segments which enclose a core of pulp. As this segment is transported towards the gingival margin, cellular differentiation and subsequent formation of hard tissue is seen to begin at the central labial side of the segment and to progress in a mesial and lateral direction towards the lingual side. In the process, the limits of the enamel organ at the mesial and lateral cemento-enamel junctions are established and the entire circumference of the segment is eventually enclosed by a rim of dentin.

Cellular renewal in the enamel organ and the odontoblast layer of the rat incisor as followed by radioautography using 3H-thymidine

Renewal of the cell populations of the incisor was studied in 100 gm male rats injected with a single dose of 3H-thymidine and sacrificed at various times from one hour to 32 days after injection. Radioautographs showed that a cohort of labeled cells within the enamel organ, odontoblast layer, and pulp was carried passively with the erupting incisor from the apical end towards the gingival margin where the life cycle of these cells was terminated. Labeled cells in the upper and lower incisor, although traversing different absolute lengths, were found in approximately the same functional stage of their life cycle at similar times after the injection. Thus, by one and on-half days labeled ameloblasts began inner enamel secretion and, by eight days (upper) or nine days (lower), complement outer enamel secretion. By 32 days labeled ameloblasts had traversed the entire enamel maturation zone and were located at the gingival margin. Labeled odontoblasts followed closely the movement of labeled ameloblasts. The mean rate of ameloblast migration was 567 mum/day on the upper incisor and 651 mim/day on the lower. For the odontoblasts this rate was 55 mum/day (upper) and 631 mum/day (lower). Finally, it was found that as the rat age, the duration of the life cycle for epithelial and pulp cell populations of the incisor increased because of growth within the lonitudinal axis of the tooth. It was concluded that the apical end of the incisor literally "grows backward" in the bony socket, and hence, the duration of the life cycle becomes greater simply because it takes cells longer to physically reach the gingival margin.

Histological and three dimensional organization of the odontogenic organ in the lower incisor of 100 gram rats

A three dimensional reconstruction of the epithelial tissue at the apical end of the lower rat incisor was made from serial 1 mum thick cross sections. This tissue formed an elongated structure, called the odontogenic organ, which was composed of a bulbous and a "U"-shaped part. Both parts were joined to one another at the posterior aspect of the apical foramen. The bulbous part of the odontogenic organ was situated at the lingual side of the "U"-shaped part and protruded anteriorly over the pulp. It was formed by cells of the outer dental epithelium and stellate reticulum whose organization suggested that the bulbous part was important in the production of cells for renewal of all the epithelia of the incisor. The "U"-shaped part of the odontogenic organ was apparently derived from the bulbous part and delineated the pulp by forming the lateral, mesial and labial sidewalls around the apical foramen. It was composed of all the epithelial cell types recognizable as precursors to (a) cells of the enamel organ which form the enamel, and (b) Hertwig's epithelial root sheath, a part of the odontogenic organ which induces the formation of dentin on the lingual aspect of the incisor.

Role of attrition and occlusal contact in the physiology of rat incisors. V. Life cycle of inner enamel epithelial cells at various rates of eruption

A kinetic study of the inner enamel epithelium (IEE) in impeded and unimpeded rat incisors proved that cell production in the IEE is directly proportional to the speed of eruption. Therefore, the rate of IEE cell production can be derived from eruption measurements.

Cellular dynamics in root formation of teeth in rhesus monkeys

The cellular kinetics around the developing root apex of rhesus monkey teeth were studied using tritiated thymidine. Labeled cells of the epithelial diaphragm did not show migration into the periodontal ligament to become cell rests of Malassez. The periodontal region adjacent to the root apex was a zone of active proliferation of connective tissue cells.