Researchers in Japan investigating strategies for regenerating organs have engineered the growth of fully functional replacement teeth in mice, according to a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (August 3, 2009).
Technology exists to develop limited tissues in the lab that can be transplanted into animals, but Etsuko Ikeda and colleagues at Tokyo University of Science explored ways to grow a 3D organ in place, starting with teeth.
They developed a bioengineered tooth germ, which is a seedlike tissue containing the cells and instructions necessary to form a tooth, and transplanted the germ into the jawbones of mice. The authors report that the germs regularly grew into replacement teeth. Tracking gene expression in the transplanted germ with a fluorescent protein, the researchers showed that genes normally activated in tooth development were also active during the bioengineered replacement’s growth.
The engineered tooth's hardness was comparable with natural teeth, and nerve fibers could grow throughout and respond to pain stimulation, the researchers reported.
"This study demonstrates a technique that could lead to the development of bioengineered organ replacements, potentially providing a prelude to the ability to grow new, fully functional bioengineered organs inside the body from stem cells or other germ cells," according to the authors.
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