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RESEARCH REPORT |
Department of Orthodontics, Dental Clinic, University of Bonn, Welschnonnenstr. 17, D-53111 Bonn, Germany;
* corresponding author, bourauel{at}uni-bonn.de
| ABSTRACT |
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KEY WORDS: periodontal ligament experimental tooth movement rat molar MAPK Runx2.
| INTRODUCTION |
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Recent research, applying modern methods of cellular and molecular biology, has again focused on the role played by periodontal ligament cells (Sandy et al., 1993). Periodontal ligament fibroblasts have been shown to possess osteogenic potential and to undergo osteoblastic differentiation in response to various stimuli (Basdra and Komposch, 1997; Matsuda et al., 1998). The ability of these cells to respond to mechanical stimuli could be the key factor in mediating bone-remodeling processes. However, little is known about these responses, and this reflects the deficiency in our understanding of mechanotransduction mechanisms.
In vitro studies of cell cultures of different osteoblastic cell lines have demonstrated that the initial reaction of these cells to mechanical strain is, at least partly, mediated by deformation of the cytoskeleton via physical interaction of collagen I and receptors of the integrin family (Carvalho et al., 1996). A key link between these membrane-bound receptors and changes in the pattern of gene expression has been shown to be the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways (Matsuda et al., 1998; Xiao et al., 2000; Lai et al., 2001).
Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), members of the MAPK family, have been shown to participate in a diverse array of cellular programs, including cell differentiation, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. The modus of these physiological responses is cell-type-specific. Mechanical stimuli have been shown to activate ERK1/2 in mechanosensitive cells, such as endothelial cells (Tseng et al., 1995) and smooth-muscle cells (Reusch et al., 1997) in vitro. In osteoblastic cells, the ERK1/2 signal pathway is involved in different cellular responses induced by mechanical stimuli such as collagen synthesis (Chaudhary and Avioli, 2000), cyclo-oxygenase expression (Wadhwa et al., 2002), and osteopontin production (You et al., 2001). Ziros et al.(2002) have shown, in vitro, that mechanical stimuli lead to increased expression of runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), also referred to as core-binding factor 1 (Cbfa1), a transcription factor that is a pivotal regulator of osteoblast differentiation, via the ERK1/2 pathway. The bone-specific transcription factor Runx2 stimulates transcription of osteoblastic markers such as osteocalcin, type I collagen, osteopontin, alkaline phosphatase, and matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP13), which are regulated in the course of osteoblastic maturation (Komori, 2002; Lian et al., 2004).
In the present study, the in vitro results were corroborated in vivo by the application of a precisely calibrated load to the upper first molars of rats, and by quantitative analysis of immunohistochemical detection of ERK1/2 and Runx2 in regions presenting the classic tension and pressure zones around the mesial root. In addition, we examined the relationship between cell differentiation and cell proliferation in the periodontal ligament during the early phase of tooth movement.
| MATERIALS & METHODS |
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Experimental Protocol
Rats were anesthetized with Rompun (Bayer, Leverkusen, Germany; 0.01 mL) and Ketavet (Pharmacia & Upjohn, Erlangen, Germany; 0.24 mL). The animal was clamped into a head-holding device (Fig. 1A
), and the occlusal surface of the maxillary first molar was prepared by the grinding of a small hole with a dental diamond bur. The surface was then treated with self-etching bonding material (Xeno III, Dentsply DeTrey, Konstanz, Germany) for 60 sec. An orthodontic appliance consisting of a T-loop (0.016 x 0.022-inch stainless steel wire, Ormco Corp., Glendora, CA, USA) was placed between the right maxillary first molar and a high-resolution 3D force/torque transducer (ATI, Industrial Automation, Garner, NC, USA), which has a resolution of 0.0125 N for force and 0.0625 Nmm (the Systeme International unit of the Torque [Moment] given in Newton times millimetre) for torque. The T-loop was fixed to the occlusal surface of the molar with light-curing composite (Tetric, Vivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein) (Fig. 1B
). Forces of about 0.1 N, which moved the right upper molars mesially, were kept constant and recorded for 15 min, 1 hr, 2 hrs, 4 hrs, or 8 hrs for 5 animals each. Generally, re-activation was necessary after a short period of loading (Fig. 1C
). For the long-duration experiments, anesthesia was repeated with Ketavet and isotonic sodium chloride solution (Delta Pharma, Pfullingen, Germany). The untreated contralateral molars in 5 rats served as controls.
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Immunohistochemical staining was carried out with anti-PCNA mouse monoclonal antibody (diluted at 1:500, ZYMED Laboratories, South San Francisco CA, USA), Runx2 goat polyclonal antibody (diluted at 1:35, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA, USA), and pERK1/2 mouse monoclonal antibody (diluted at 1:100, US Biological, Swampscott, MA, USA). The sections were deparaffinized and rehydrated, rinsed with tris-hydroxymethyl aminomethane-buffered saline solution (TBS) at pH 7.4 for 10 min, and then soaked in methanol/H2O2 for 45 min in the dark, to block endogenous peroxidase activity. In TBS/BSA (4% bovine serum albumin)-diluted anti-PCNA, Runx2 and pERK1/2 antibodies were used overnight at 4°C in a humidity chamber. Subsequently, sections were washed in TBS and incubated with Envision+/HRP anti-mouse or anti-goat immune globulin/HRP (DakoCytomation, Hamburg, Germany), as secondary antibodies for 30 min in a humidity chamber at RT. Antibody complexes were visualized after the addition of AEC+ (DakoCytomation, Hamburg, Germany) substrate for 10 min. Thereafter, slides were rinsed, counterstained with Mayers hematoxylin for 5 sec, rinsed again, and mounted. Negative controls were prepared by omission of the primary antibodies from the staining procedures. All chemicals were purchased from Sigma (Deisenhofen, Germany). The specificity of the antibodies used had been confirmed by immunoblotting analysis (Ogata et al., 1985) or by the manufacturer (US Biological, Swampscott, MA, USA), respectively.
Counting of immunohistochemically positive cells was performed in two separate areas in each selected section (Fig. 1A
). These areas were located mesio-coronally and disto-coronally to the mesial root, scanned by means of a scanner camera (Pentacon, Dresden, Germany) mounted on a light microscope (Axiophot 2; Zeiss, Göttingen, Germany), and viewed with imaging software (SilverFast V5, Lasersoft, Kiel, Germany) on a personal computer. Counts were performed at a magnification of 400x. The overall size of each measurement field on the computer screen was 750 µm x 375 µm.
Values were calculated as the mean and standard deviation for each group. We performed Students t tests to determine differences between groups and with regard to the localization of counted positive cells. To evaluate the accuracy of the method, we calculated an interobserver error of 6.9% (CV) and an intra-observer error of 2.2% (CV) after the author and an investigator blinded to the study double-counted 20 randomly chosen sections.
| RESULTS |
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| DISCUSSION |
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In our study, a rat molar was loaded orthodontically with a high-resolution 3D force/torque transducer for up to 8 hrs while the animal was under anesthesia. We have not found any reports about studies using any similar well-controlled animal model. We found an obvious correlation between periodontal ligament pERK1/2-positive and Runx2-positive cells. The proportion of Runx2-positive cells is similar to the proportion of pERK1/2-positive cells within the same time interval. These proportions were increased in the selected area under tension, suggesting that periodontal ligament cells undergo osteoblastic differentiation via the ERK pathway in these zones. In addition, due to the mechanical loading, we observed an increase in pERK- and Runx2-positive cells which occurred in a time-dependent manner, suggesting that periodontal ligament cells are the source of osteoblasts after prolonged mechanical stimulus.
Whereas in in vitro studies it has been shown that mechanical stress induces DNA synthesis in human periodontal ligament cells following 6 hrs of stretching (Kletsas et al., 1998), in our study no significant proliferation could be observed after 8 hrs of mechanical stimulus. One possible explanation for the discrepancy between those results and the ones presented here might be the total incubation period of 48 hrs used after mechanical stretching in vitro. Studies on cell kinetics of orthodontically stimulated periodontal ligament in the rat indicated a notable increase in DNA synthesis at about 20 hrs after application of the orthodontic force (Roberts and Jee, 1974).
Altogether, our findings show that short-term mechanical stimulus in the first instance induces differentiation of periodontal ligament cells toward osteoblasts via the ERK cascade and does not influence the proliferation of these cells. Thus, our results confirmed the hypothesis of Roberts et al.(1982), that new osteoblasts are derived from periodontal ligament cells during orthodontically induced osteogenesis.
Furthermore, the results of this study are in accordance with the results of various studies where the finite element method was used, suggesting the dominant role of the periodontal ligament in remodeling processes of alveolar bone (Bourauel et al., 2000; Kawarizadeh et al., 2003).
Activation of ERK by orthodontic loading is a promising approach to explain the regulation of osteogenesis by mechanical loading. Further studies that investigate changes in ERK activity and expression of Runx2 when teeth are subjected to higher levels of force or exposed for a longer time under well-controlled experimental conditions should be very helpful for furthering our understanding of remodeling processes following orthodontic tooth movement.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Received September 3, 2004; Last revision June 13, 2005; Accepted June 18, 2005
| REFERENCES |
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