MICRO RNAS AND TOOTH DEVELOPMENT; MODEL FOR ORGANOGENESIS?

The developing tooth can be regarded as a typical vertebrate organ starting as an epithelial bud that subsequently develops into a mature organ, a process that entails extensive epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. Functions of various signalling molecules and gene expression during odontogenesis have appealed considerable interest. Although it now is evident that microRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in tooth development, their regulative role remains essentially unknown. MicroRNAs have been studied in the context of most ectodermal organs but only a few functional studies of their role in tooth development have been published so far. The fine-tuning of this epithelial-mesenchymal network via the miRNAs` regulation is still poorly understood. In view of similarities between development of the tooth and other organs of ectodermal origin, studies of miRNAs` function during tooth development will likely have wide biological relevance.