Systems Biology of Early Tooth Development

Abstract

This chapter highlights the ability of systems biology approaches to provide insight into how a molar tooth is formed and into how that process might be recapitulated from a bioengineering standpoint. It first provides a brief overview of relevant embryologic, genetic, and molecular knowledge about odontogenic epithelial-mesenchymal (E-M) interactions. Then, to illustrate how gene expression profiling, literature-derived knowledge, integrative bioinformatics, and in vivo genetics can be combined to yield novel insights into the mechanisms that underlie E-M interactions, the chapter presents results from a recent systems biology study by our group on the early E-M interactions in molar odontogenesis. Finally, it discusses the potential applicability of a gene regulatory network (GRN) to tooth regeneration and stem cell-based bioengineering. © 2013 Wiley-Blackwell.