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Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 15295

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Shinichi Abe

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Guest Editor

Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, 2-9-18 Kanda-misakicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0061, Japan
Interests: osteoarthritis; temporomandibular joint; musculotendinous junction; enthesis; Sox9

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To encourage further research on oral science, it is important to establish a new dental care system based on scientific grounds. However, a gap between cutting-edge molecular research and dental clinics has been indicated. Further, it is important to reconsider the mechanism of maxillofacial formation and maintenance and summarize the research on structural and functional changes in the masticatory organs and their mechanisms. For dental clinics to support a healthy and long-living society in Japan, the maintenance of the maxillofacial structure and muscle and saliva secretion functions is indispensable. With this objective, we would like to consider the evolutionary understanding of maxillofacial tissues, their formation process—which is greatly affected by mechanical stress—and the understanding of the morphological and functional maintenance mechanisms that we wish to maintain throughout our lives. In this Special Issue, we would like to discuss review articles and original papers collated particularly from the perspective of molecular research.

Prof. Dr. Shinichi Abe
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

craniofacial biology
molecular research
dental research
masticatory organs
craniofacial muscle

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 7642 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chronological Changes in the Expression and Localization of Sox9 between Achilles Tendon Injury and Functional Recovery in Mice

by Genji Watanabe, Masahito Yamamoto, Shuichirou Taniguchi, Yuki Sugiyama, Hidetomo Hirouchi, Satoshi Ishizuka, Kei Kitamura, Toshihide Mizoguchi, Takashi Takayama, Katsuhiko Hayashi and Shinichi Abe

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(14), 11305; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241411305 - 11 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1560

Abstract

Tendons help transmit forces from the skeletal muscles and bones. However, tendons have inferior regenerative ability compared to muscles. Despite studies on the regeneration of muscles and bone tissue, only a few have focused on tendinous tissue regeneration, especially tendon regeneration. Sex-determining region Y-box transcription factor 9 (Sox9) is an SRY-related transcription factor with a DNA-binding domain and is an important control factor for cartilage formation. Sox9 is critical to the early-to-middle stages of tendon development. However, how Sox9 participates in the healing process after tendon injury is unclear. We hypothesized that Sox9 is expressed in damaged tendons and is crucially involved in restoring tendon functions. We constructed a mouse model of an Achilles tendon injury by performing a 0.3 mm wide partial excision in the Achilles tendon of mice, and chronologically evaluated the function restoration and localization of the Sox9 expressed in the damaged sites. The results reveal that Sox9 was expressed simultaneously with the formation of the pre-structure of the epitenon, an essential part of the tendinous tissue, indicating that its expression is linked to the functional restoration of tendons. Lineage tracing for Sox9 expressed during tendon restoration revealed the tendon restoration involvement of cells that switched into Sox9-expressing cells after tendon injury. The stem cells involved in tendon regeneration may begin to express Sox9 after injury. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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15 pages, 2553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Myostatin on Nuclear Morphology at the Myotendinous Junction

by Hikari Amemiya, Masahito Yamamoto, Kazunari Higa, Genji Watanabe, Shuichiro Taniguchi, Kei Kitamura, Juhee Jeong, Nobuaki Yanagisawa, Ken-ichi Fukuda and Shinichi Abe

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(7), 6634; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24076634 - 2 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1699

Abstract

Myostatin (Myo) is known to suppress skeletal muscle growth, and was recently reported to control tendon homeostasis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the regulatory involvement of Myo in the myotendinous junction (MTJ) in vivo and in vitro. After Achilles tendon injury in mice, we identified unexpected cell accumulation on the tendon side of the MTJ. At postoperative day 7 (POD7), the nuclei had an egg-like profile, whereas at POD28 they were spindle-shaped. The aspect ratio of nuclei on the tendon side of the MTJ differed significantly between POD7 and POD28 (p = 4.67 × 10⁻³⁴). We then investigated Myo expression in the injured Achilles tendon. At the MTJ, Myo expression was significantly increased at POD28 relative to POD7 (p = 0.0309). To investigate the action of Myo in vitro, we then prepared laminated sheets of myoblasts (C2C12) and fibroblasts (NIH3T3) (a pseudo MTJ model). Myo did not affect the expression of Pax7 and desmin (markers of muscle development), scleraxis and temonodulin (markers of tendon development), or Sox9 (a common marker of muscle and tendon development) in the cell sheets. However, Myo changed the nuclear morphology of scleraxis-positive cells arrayed at the boundary between the myoblast sheet and the fibroblast sheet (aspect ratio of the cell nuclei, myostatin(+) vs. myostatin(-): p = 0.000134). Myo may strengthen the connection at the MTJ in the initial stages of growth and wound healing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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12 pages, 2372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment Impact on Subgingival Microbiome and Intra-Oral Halitosis

by Catarina Izidoro, João Botelho, Vanessa Machado, Ana Mafalda Reis, Luís Proença, Helena Barroso, Ricardo Alves and José João Mendes

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(3), 2518; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032518 - 28 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1551

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare subgingival microbiome before and after periodontal treatment to learn if any changes of the subgingival microbiome were reflected in intra-oral halitosis. We tested the hypothesis that intra-oral halitosis (Volatile sulfur compounds levels) correlates with corresponding subgingival bacterial levels before and after periodontal treatment. Twenty patients with generalized periodontitis completed the study. Subgingival plaque samples were collected at baseline and 6–8 weeks after nonsurgical periodontal therapy. Full-mouth periodontal status assessed probing depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), gingival recession (REC), bleeding on probing (BoP), PISA and PESA. Halitosis assessment was made using a volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) detector device. Periodontal measures were regressed across VSC values using adjusted multivariate linear analysis. The subgingival microbiome was characterized by sequencing on an Illumina platform. From a sample of 20 patients referred to periodontal treatment, 70% were females (n = 14), with a mean age of 56.6 (±10.3) years; full-mouth records of PD, CAL, BOP (%) allowed to classify the stage and grade of periodontitis, with 45% (n = 9) of the sample having Periodontitis Stage IV grade C and 95% (n = 19) had generalized periodontitis. The correlation of bacterial variation with VSCs measured in the periodontal diagnosis and in the reassessment after treatment were evaluated. Fusobacterium nucleatum, Capnocytophaga gingivalis and Campylobacter showaei showed correlation with the reduction of VSC after periodontal treatment (p-value = 0.044; 0.047 and 0.004, respectively). Capnocytophaga sputigena had a significant reverse correlation between VSCs variation from diagnosis (baseline) and after treatment. Microbial diversity was high in the subgingival plaque on periodontitis and intra-oral halitosis participants of the study. Furthermore, there were correlations between subgingival plaque composition and VSC counting after periodontal treatment. The subgingival microbiome can offer important clues in the investigation of the pathogenesis and treatment of halitosis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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14 pages, 4634 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Osteopontin on the Dental Implant Surface Promotes Direct Osteogenesis in Osseointegration

by Sanako Makishi, Tomohiko Yamazaki and Hayato Ohshima

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(3), 1039; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23031039 - 18 Jan 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2276

Abstract

After dental implantation, osteopontin (OPN) is deposited on the hydroxyapatite (HA) blasted implant surface followed by direct osteogenesis, which is significantly disturbed in Opn-knockout (KO) mice. However, whether applying OPN on the implant surface promotes direct osteogenesis remains unclarified. This study analyzed the effects of various OPN modified protein/peptides coatings on the healing patterns of the bone-implant interface after immediately placed implantation in the maxilla of four-week-old Opn-KO and wild-type (WT) mice (n = 96). The decalcified samples were processed for immunohistochemistry for OPN and Ki67 and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase histochemistry. In the WT mice, the proliferative activity in the HA binding peptide-OPN mimic peptide fusion coated group was significantly higher than that in the control group from day 3 to week 1, and the rates of OPN deposition and direct osteogenesis around the implant surface significantly increased in the recombinant-mouse-OPN (rOPN) group compared to the Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser peptide group in week 2. The rOPN group achieved the same rates of direct osteogenesis and osseointegration as those in the control group in a half period (week 2). None of the implant surfaces could rescue the direct osteogenesis in the healing process in the Opn-KO mice. These results suggest that the rOPN coated implant enhances direct osteogenesis during osseointegration following implantation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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Review

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18 pages, 970 KiB

Open AccessReview

Count Me in, Count Me out: Regulation of the Tooth Number via Three Directional Developmental Patterns

by Zheng Fang and Devi Atukorallaya

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(20), 15061; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242015061 - 11 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1238

Abstract

Tooth number anomalies, including hyperdontia and hypodontia, are common congenital dental problems in the dental clinic. The precise number of teeth in a dentition is essential for proper speech, mastication, and aesthetics. Teeth are ectodermal organs that develop from the interaction of a thickened epithelium (dental placode) with the neural-crest-derived ectomesenchyme. There is extensive histological, molecular, and genetic evidence regarding how the tooth number is regulated in this serial process, but there is currently no universal classification for tooth number abnormalities. In this review, we propose a novel regulatory network for the tooth number based on the inherent dentition formation process. This network includes three intuitive directions: the development of a single tooth, the formation of a single dentition with elongation of the continual lamina, and tooth replacement with the development of the successional lamina. This article summarizes recent reports on early tooth development and provides an analytical framework to classify future relevant experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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21 pages, 659 KiB

Open AccessReview

Oxidative Stress and Chemoradiation-Induced Oral Mucositis: A Scoping Review of In Vitro, In Vivo and Clinical Studies

by Huynh Nguyen, Simran Sangha, Michelle Pan, Dong Ha Shin, Hayoung Park, Ali I. Mohammed and Nicola Cirillo

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(9), 4863; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23094863 - 27 Apr 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2948

Abstract

Chemoradiation-induced mucositis is a debilitating condition of the gastrointestinal tract eventuating from antineoplastic treatment. It is believed to occur primarily due to oxidative stress mechanisms, which generate Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). The aim of this scoping review was to assess the role of oxidative stress in the development of Oral Mucositis (OM). Studies from the literature, published in MEDLINE and SCOPUS, that evaluated the oxidative stress pathways or antioxidant interventions for OM, were retrieved to elucidate the current understanding of their relationship. Studies failing inclusion criteria were excluded, and those suitable underwent data extraction, using a predefined data extraction table. Eighty-nine articles fulfilled criteria, and these were sub-stratified into models of study (in vitro, in vivo, or clinical) for evaluation. Thirty-five clinical studies evaluated antioxidant interventions on OM’s severity, duration, and pain, amongst other attributes. A number of clinical studies sought to elucidate the protective or therapeutic effects of compounds that had been pre-determined to have antioxidant properties, without directly assessing oxidative stress parameters (these were deemed “indirect evidence”). Forty-seven in vivo studies assessed the capacity of various compounds to prevent OM. Findings were mostly consistent, reporting reduced OM severity associated with a reduction in ROS, malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), but higher glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity or expression. Twenty-one in vitro studies assessed potential OM therapeutic interventions. The majority demonstrated successful a reduction in ROS, and in select studies, secondary molecules were assessed to identify the mechanism. In summary, this review highlighted numerous oxidative stress pathways involved in OM pathogenesis, which may inform the development of novel therapeutic targets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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17 pages, 725 KiB

Open AccessReview

Genes and Pathways Associated with Skeletal Sagittal Malocclusions: A Systematic Review

by Elizabeth Gershater, Chenshuang Li, Pin Ha, Chun-Hsi Chung, Nipul Tanna, Min Zou and Zhong Zheng

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(23), 13037; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222313037 - 2 Dec 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3558

Abstract

Skeletal class II and III malocclusions are craniofacial disorders that negatively impact people’s quality of life worldwide. Unfortunately, the growth patterns of skeletal malocclusions and their clinical correction prognoses are difficult to predict largely due to lack of knowledge of their precise etiology. Inspired by the strong inheritance pattern of a specific type of skeletal malocclusion, previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were reanalyzed, resulting in the identification of 19 skeletal class II malocclusion-associated and 53 skeletal class III malocclusion-associated genes. Functional enrichment of these genes created a signal pathway atlas in which most of the genes were associated with bone and cartilage growth and development, as expected, while some were characterized by functions related to skeletal muscle maturation and construction. Interestingly, several genes and enriched pathways are involved in both skeletal class II and III malocclusions, indicating the key regulatory effects of these genes and pathways in craniofacial development. There is no doubt that further investigation is necessary to validate these recognized genes’ and pathways’ specific function(s) related to maxillary and mandibular development. In summary, this systematic review provides initial insight on developing novel gene-based treatment strategies for skeletal malocclusions and paves the path for precision medicine where dental care providers can make an accurate prediction of the craniofacial growth of an individual patient based on his/her genetic profile. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Craniofacial Biology and Dentistry)

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