Glycogen Storage Within Undifferentiated Cells of the Dental Papilla: Electron Microscope Findings

¹ Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts

Large cytoplasmic pools of glycogen were observed within relatively undifferentiated cells in the dental papillae of the developing incisor teeth of young Swiss albino mice. Little or no glycogen was present within fully differentiated odontoblasts and fibroblasts, which suggests that the depletion of glycogen stores provides the energy needed for differentiation.