Iroquois homeobox 1 and insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 during dental root development

Teeth are an essential structure for animal and human species. Teeth contribute to the function of digestion, and survival; furthermore, in humans teeth have a great impact on phonetics and social behavior. The understanding of the development of teeth has been a topic studied in research for years. Research has been focused primarily on the structures of the teeth that can be seen in the mouth – ‘the dental crown’. However, there is still a lack of information about the development of the tissues that comprise the root of the tooth and the adjacent structures that allow for the anchorage of the teeth in their functional locations. The understanding of molecular regulation and contribution of certain proteins to the development of the dental root will open opportunities to further study the mechanisms of cell differentiation which could be applied to regenerative procedures to repair or develop new dental structures to treat diseases that affect the root of the teeth or the tissues where the teeth anchor.

In the series of experiments presented in this thesis, the contribution of 2 proteins to the development of the dental root and tissues where the tooth anchor have been found and described. The findings of these experiments are unique since the presence and role of one of the two proteins studies (Iroquois homeobox 1) in dental root development was unknown and it is the first time that the contribution of another protein (Insulin growth factor receptor 1) to dental root development in an animal model has been studied.