Abstract
Distribution of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) during the development of the mandibular second- and third-molars of the mouse was studied by indirect immunofluorescence techniques. At the initial stage, NCAM was intensely expressed by the mesenchymal cells surrounding the dental lamina, and by the cap stage NCAM expression by the mesenchymal cells became restricted to the dental follicle. After that, in addition to the follicular mesenchyme, some cells in the basal part of the dental papilla showed NCAM-immunoreactivity for a while after the hard tissue formation had started. During root formation, the follicular cells lost NCAM first from the level of the cervical root and later from the coronal part, while an additional NCAM positive area appeared deep in the dental papilla. Even after the teeth had erupted, NCAM was expressed in the tissue surrounding the apical root and in the pulp core. During the initial and bud stages, the pattern of NCAM expression in the second and third molars was different from that in the first molar, where NCAM was found only after the late bud stage; while from the cap stage onward, it changed in the same sequence as in the first molar. The different pattern of NCAM expression implies that there is a difference in developmental events between the early stages of the first and the other two molars. On the other hand, the common sequence of NCAM expression in the tooth germs later than the cap stage suggests that NCAM plays an essential role in the formation of the basic structure of the teeth and periodontal tissues.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chibon P (1957) Étude experimentale par ablations, greffes et autoradiographie, de l'origine des dents chez l'amphibien urodel Pleurodeles waltlii Michah. Arch Oral Biol 12:745–753
Crossin KL, Chuong CM, Edelman GM (1985) Expression sequences of cell adhesion molecules. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 82:6942–6946
Cunningham BA, Hemperly JJ, Murray BA, Prediger EA, Brackenbury R, Edelman GM (1987) Neural cell adhesion molecule: structure, immunoglobulin-like domains, cell surface modulation, and alternative RNA splicing. Science 236:799–806
de Beer GR (1947) The differentiation of neural crest cells into visceral cartilages and odontoblasts in Ambystoma, and a reexamination of the germ layer theory. Proc R Soc Lond [Biol] 134:377–398
Edelman GM (1984) Expression of cell adhesion molecules during embryogenesis and regeneration. Exp Cell Res 161:1–16
Edelman GM (1985) Cell adhesion and the molecular processes of morphogenesis. Annu Rev Biochem 54:135–169
Edelman GM (1986) Cell adhesion molecules in the regulation of animal form and tissue pattern. Annu Rev Cell Biol 2:81–116
Edelman GM (1988) Morphogregulatory molecules. Biochemistry 27:3533–3543
Edelman GM, Crossin KL (1991) Cell adhesion molecules: implications for a molecular histology. Annu Rev Biochem 60:155–190
Fisher AR (1971) Morphological development in vitro of the whole and halved lower molar tooth germ of the mouse. Arch Oral Biol 16:1481–1496
Glasstone S (1936) The development of tooth germs in vitro. J Anat 70:260–266
Hay MF (1961) The development in vivo and in vitro of the lower incisor and molars of the mouse. Arch Oral Biol 3:86–109
Huang WM, Gibson SJ, Facer P, Gu J, Polak JM (1983) Improved section adhesion for immunocytochemistry using high molecular weight polymers of l-lysine as a slide coating. Histochemistry 77:275–279
Lumsden AGS (1979) Pattern formation in the molar dentition of the mouse. J Biol Buccale 7:77–103
Lumsden AGS (1984) Tooth morphogenesis: contribution of the neural crest in mammals. In: Beicourt AB, Ruch JV (eds) Tooth morphogenesis and differentiation. Collogque Inserm, vol 125, INSERM, Paris, pp 29–40
Lumsden AGS (1987) The neural crest contribution to tooth development in the mammalian embryo. In: Maderson PFA (ed) Developmental and evolutionary aspects of the neural crest. Wiley, New York, pp 216–300
Lumsden AGS (1988) Spatial organization of the epithelium and the role of neural crest cells in the initiation of the mammalian tooth germ. Development 103 [Suppl]:155–169
Lumsden AGS, Buchanan JAG (1986) An experimental study of timing and topography of early tooth development in the mouse embryo with an analysis of the role of innervation. Arch Oral Biol 31:301–311
Mark PM, Butler WT, Ruch JV (1989) Transient expression of a chondroitin sulfate-related epitope during cartilage histomorphogenesis in the axial skeleton of fetal rats. Dev Biol 133:475–488
McLean IW, Nakane PK (1974) Periodate-lysine-paraformaldehyde fixative: a new fixative for immunoelectron microscopy. J Histochem Cytochem 22:1077–1083
Obara N, Takeda M (1993) Expression of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) during the first molar development in the mouse. Anat Embryol 187:209–219
Pourtois M (1964) Comportement en culture in vitro des ébauches dentaires de rongeurs prélevées aux stages de prédifférenciation. J Embryol Exp Morphol 12:391–405
Rutishauser U (1984) Developmental biology of a neural cell adhesion molecule. Nature 310:549–554
Theiler K (1972) The house mouse. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Thiery JP, Duband JL, Rutishauser U, Edelman GM (1982) Cell adhesion molecules in early chicken embryogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:6737–6741
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Obara, N., Takeda, M. Expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) during second- and third-molar development in the mouse. Anat Embryol 188, 13–20 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191447
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191447