Emergence of corpse cremation during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Southern Levant: A multidisciplinary study of a pyre-pit burial.

Renewed excavations at the Neolithic site of Beisamoun (Upper Jordan Valley, Israel) has resulted in the discovery of the earliest occurrence of an intentional cremation in the Near East directly dated to 7031-6700 cal BC (Pre-Pottery Neolithic C, also known as Final PPNB, which spans ca. 7100-6400 cal BC). The funerary treatment involved in situ cremation within a pyre-pit of a young adult individual who previously survived from a flint projectile injury.

Genetics: The Future Is Now with Interprofessional Collaboration.

With the growing complexity of health care, interprofessional communication and collaboration are essential to optimize the care of dental patients, including consideration of genetics. A dental case exemplifies the challenges and benefits of an interprofessional approach to managing pediatric patients with oligodontia and a family history of colon cancer. The interprofessional team includes dental, genetic, nutritional, and surgical experts.

Interleukin 1 genetic tests provide no support for reduction of preventive dental care.

Background: It has been proposed that the PST and PerioPredict genetic tests that are based on polymorphisms in interleukin 1 (IL-1) genes identify a subset of patients who experience fewer tooth extractions if provided with 2 annual preventive visits. Economic analyses indicate rationing preventive care to only "high-risk" genotypes, smokers, patients with diabetes, or combinations of these risk factors would reduce the cost of dental care by $4.8 billion annually in the United States.

The American Dental Association Caries Classification System for clinical practice: a report of the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs.

Background: The caries lesion, the most commonly observed sign of dental caries disease, is the cumulative result of an imbalance in the dynamic demineralization and remineralization process that causes a net mineral loss over time. A classification system to categorize the location, site of origin, extent, and when possible, activity level of caries lesions consistently over time is necessary to determine which clinical treatments and therapeutic interventions are appropriate to control and treat these lesions.

Methods: In 2008, the American Dental Association (ADA) convened a group of experts to develop an easy-to-implement caries classification system.

Craniodentofacial Manifestations in a Rare Syndrome: Orofaciodigital Type IV (Mohr-Majewski Syndrome).

Background. The orofaciodigital syndromes (OFDS) are a heterogeneous group of syndromes that affect the face, oral cavity, and the digits. OFDS type IV (OMIM %258860) is rare and characterized by broad nasal root and tip, orbital hypertelorism or telecanthus, micrognathia, hypoplastic mandible, and low-set ears.

Variable clinical presentation of an MUC1 mutation causing medullary cystic kidney disease type 1.

Background And Objectives: The genetic cause of medullary cystic kidney disease type 1 was recently identified as a cytosine insertion in the variable number of tandem repeat region of MUC1 encoding mucoprotein-1 (MUC1), a protein that is present in skin, breast, and lung tissue, the gastrointestinal tract, and the distal tubules of the kidney. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the clinical characteristics of families and individuals with this mutation.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Families with autosomal dominant interstitial kidney disease were referred for genetic analysis over a 14-year period.

Proteomic analyses of human gingival and periodontal ligament fibroblasts.

Background: Although human gingival fibroblasts (hGFs) and human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (hPDLFs) exhibit numerous phenotypic similarities, it has been suggested that the secretory and behavioral differences, which exist between these cell types, are a result of the membrane protein composition of these cells.

Methods: Four matched pairs of hGFs and hPDLFs were cultured. Before confluence, membrane-bound and -associated proteins from cells of the fourth passage were extracted.

The utility of hybrid promotion and tenure tracks for dental school faculty.

The promotion and tenure process for faculty members varies, by design, for different disciplines, departments, and academic institutions. For many faculty members in U.S.

Nephrocalcinosis (enamel renal syndrome) caused by autosomal recessive FAM20A mutations.

Background/aims: Calcium homeostasis requires regulated cellular and interstitial systems interacting to modulate the activity and movement of this ion. Disruption of these systems in the kidney results in nephrocalcinosis and nephrolithiasis, important medical problems whose pathogenesis is incompletely understood.

Methods: We investigated 25 patients from 16 families with unexplained nephrocalcinosis and characteristic dental defects (amelogenesis imperfecta, gingival hyperplasia, impaired tooth eruption).

Do X-linked diseases affect periodontal health?

Genetic factors play an important etiologic role in destructive periodontal diseases. There have been reports that sex chromosomes, especially disorders associated with the X chromosome, affect periodontal health. Although numerous X-linked diseases have been reported to be associated with various periodontal diseases, the association of gingivitis and/or periodontitis with these genetic syndromes should be considered tenuous and raises the question of whether the periodontal manifestation truly arises from an underlying X-linked genetic etiology.

A characterization of the oral microbiome in allogeneic stem cell transplant patients.

Background: The mouth is a complex biological structure inhabited by diverse bacterial communities. The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of allogeneic stem cell transplantation on the oral microbiota and to examine differences among those patients who acquired respiratory complications after transplantation.

Methodology/principal Findings: All patients were consented at the National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center.

Identification of microbial and proteomic biomarkers in early childhood caries.

The purpose of this study was to provide a univariate and multivariate analysis of genomic microbial data and salivary mass-spectrometry proteomic profiles for dental caries outcomes. In order to determine potential useful biomarkers for dental caries, a multivariate classification analysis was employed to build predictive models capable of classifying microbial and salivary sample profiles with generalization performance. We used high-throughput methodologies including multiplexed microbial arrays and SELDI-TOF-MS profiling to characterize the oral flora and salivary proteome in 204 children aged 1-8 years (n = 118 caries-free, n = 86 caries-active).

Mutant DLX 3 disrupts odontoblast polarization and dentin formation.

Tricho-dento-osseous (TDO) syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by abnormalities in the thickness and density of bones and teeth. A 4-bp deletion mutation in the Distal-Less 3 (DLX3) gene is etiologic for most cases of TDO. To investigate the in vivo role of mutant DLX3 (MT-DLX3) on dentin development, we generated transgenic (TG) mice expressing MT-DLX3 driven by a mouse 2.

Novel cathepsin C mutation in a Brazilian family with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome: case report and mutation update.

Purpose: Papilion-Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that involves palmoplantar keratosis (PK) and severe aggressive periodontitis. Cathepsin C (CTSC) gene mutations are etiologic for PLS, with more than 60 different mutations reported in different ethnic groups worldwide. The purpose of this study was to report a novel cathepsin C mutation in a Brazilian patient.

Oral rehabilitation of a patient with amelogenesis imperfecta.

Amelogenesis imperfecta is a hereditary disorder that causes defective enamel development in the primary and permanent teeth. Clinical treatment is important to address the esthetic appearance of affected teeth, reduce dentinal sensitivity, preserve tooth structure, and optimize masticatory function. The purpose of this case report was to describe the diagnosis, treatment planning, and dental rehabilitation of a patient with autosomal recessive amelogenesis imperfecta.

Dominant renin gene mutations associated with early-onset hyperuricemia, anemia, and chronic kidney failure.

Through linkage analysis and candidate gene sequencing, we identified three unrelated families with the autosomal-dominant inheritance of early onset anemia, hypouricosuric hyperuricemia, progressive kidney failure, and mutations resulting either in the deletion (p.Leu16del) or the amino acid exchange (p.Leu16Arg) of a single leucine residue in the signal sequence of renin.

Exclusion of candidate genes in seven Turkish families with autosomal recessive amelogenesis imperfecta.

Amelogenesis imperfectas (AI) are a group of inherited defects of dental enamel formation that show both clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Seven Turkish families segregating autosomal recessive AI (ARAI) were evaluated for evidence of a genetic etiology of AI for the seven major candidate gene loci (AMBN, AMELX, ENAM, FAM83H, KLK4, MMP20, and TUFT1). Dental and periodontal characteristics of the affected members of these families were also described.

The PDGF-C regulatory region SNP rs28999109 decreases promoter transcriptional activity and is associated with CL/P.

Human linkage and association studies suggest a gene(s) for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) on chromosome 4q31-q32 at or near the platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) locus. The mouse Pdgfc(-/-) knockout shows that PDGF-C is essential for palatogenesis. To evaluate the role of PDGF-C in human clefting, we performed sequence analysis and SNP genotyping using 1048 multiplex CL/P families and 1000 case-control samples from multiple geographic origins.

Human and mouse enamel phenotypes resulting from mutation or altered expression of AMEL, ENAM, MMP20 and KLK4.

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is caused by AMEL, ENAM, MMP20 and KLK4 gene mutations. Mice lacking expression of the AmelX, Enam and Mmp20 genes have been generated. These mouse models provide tools for understanding enamel formation and AI pathogenesis.

A comprehensive analysis of normal variation and disease-causing mutations in the human DSPP gene.

Within nine dentin dysplasia (DD) (type II) and dentinogenesis imperfecta (type II and III) patient/families, seven have 1 of 4 net -1 deletions within the approximately 2-kb coding repeat domain of the DSPP gene while the remaining two patients have splice-site mutations. All frameshift mutations are predicted to change the highly soluble DSPP protein into proteins with long hydrophobic amino acid repeats that could interfere with processing of normal DSPP and/or other secreted matrix proteins. We propose that all previously reported missense, nonsense, and splice-site DSPP mutations (all associated with exons 2 and 3) result in dominant phenotypes due to disruption of signal peptide-processing and/or related biochemical events that also result in interference with protein processing.