Characteristics of NaF-induced differentiation of HL-60 cells.

Sodium fluoride (NaF) is known to stimulate osteoblastic bone formation, but little attention has been given to the possibility that NaF also affects bone resorption and the differentiation of osteoclastic progenitor cells. When human promyelocytic HL-60 cells were treated with NaF (0.5 mM, 0-4 days), cell proliferation was inhibited, and the addition of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) (10nM, 0-4 days) augmented this antiproliferative effect.

Long-term evaluation of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 induced bone formation with a biologic and synthetic delivery system.

The efficacy of microspheres made of polylactic acid polyglycolic acid copolymer mixed with blood clot as a delivery system for recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) was evaluated and the long term behaviour of rhBMP-2 in rats was studied. Twenty micro grams of rhBMP-2 in 200 microliter carrier (blood coagulum and polylactic acid polyglycolic acid porous microspheres) were implanted subcutaneously over both sides of the chest muscles in 40 5-week-old male Long Evans rats. The control group were implanted with carrier alone.

Eubacterium exiguum sp. nov., isolated from human oral lesions.

Eubacterium exiguum sp. nov. is the name proposed for organisms formerly described as Eubacterium group S strains and similar bacteria isolated from various types of oral lesions.

Three-dimensional arrangement of enamel prisms and their relation to the formation of Hunter-Schreger bands in dog tooth.

The three-dimensional architecture of enamel prisms and their relationship to Hunter-Schreger bands were examined in the developing enamel of several dog teeth by light and electron microscopy, and computer-assisted reconstruction. Sections were prepared from a single demineralized tooth germ. Longitudinal semithin sections parallel to the meridian of the tooth showed parazones and diazones of the Hunter-Schreger bands in alternate rows at equal intervals.

Immunolocalization of fibronectin during reparative dentinogenesis in human teeth after pulp capping with calcium hydroxide.

Exposed dental pulp is known to possess the ability to form a hard-tissue barrier (dentin bridge). The exact mechanisms by which pulp cells differentiate into odontoblasts in this process are unknown. Fibronectin has been demonstrated to play a crucial role in odontoblast differentiation during tooth development.

Immunohistochemical localization of HLA-DR-positive cells in unerupted and erupted normal and carious human teeth.

Class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen-expressing cells are generally associated with the early phase of the immune response. We have studied the distribution of class II-expressing cells in developing, normal, and carious human teeth to clarify when human pulp acquires an immunologic defense potential and how this reacts to dental caries. Antigen-expressing cells were identified immunohistochemically by means of HLA-DR monoclonal antibody.

Different localizations of growth-associated protein (GAP-43) in mechanoreceptors and free nerve endings of adult rat periodontal ligament, dental pulp and skin.

Distributions of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) in the periodontal ligament and dental pulp of adult rats were studied by light and electron microscopy. The mature periodontal ligament and dental pulp contained numerous GAP-43-positive neural elements, comprising periodontal Ruffini endings and thin nerve fibers, but expression patterns differed among the kinds of nerves. In the periodontal ligament of rat molars, immunoelectron microscopy revealed that GAP-43 like immunoreactivity in the Ruffini ending, an essential mechanoreceptor, was confined to the Schwann sheaths around the axon terminals and was not in the axon terminals themselves, unlike free endings that revealed axonal GAP-43.

Ultrastructural, enzyme-, lectin, and immunohistochemical studies of the erosion zone in rat tibiae.

To clarify the process of endochondral ossification, we used ultrastructural, enzyme-, lectin-, and immunohistochemical techniques to study perivascular cells located in the erosion zones of rat tibiae. In growth plate erosion zones, perivascular cells directly connected to blood capillaries were seen invading cartilage. These cells contained a well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus in their cytoplasm and formed finger-like cytoplasmic processes toward uncalcified transverse cartilage walls.

Surface contamination of titanium by abrading treatment.

This study investigated the contamination of abraded Ti surfaces. Using a polishing machine, specimens were abraded with waterproof SiC grit papers under water cooling. The abraded surfaces were examined using element analysis, X-ray diffraction, and hardness tests.

Production of amelogenin by enamel epithelium of Hertwig's root sheath.

Objective: To study the multiple potentials of differentiating odontogenic epithelial cells.

Study Design: Bilateral first and second maxillary molars of 30 immature rats were perforated into the pulp chambers with a round bur. The pulps were observed histologically and immunohistochemically for amelogenin 3, 7, and 14 days after the perforation.

Occurrence of amorphous and crystalline mineral deposits at the epithelial-mesenchymal interface of incisors in the calcium-loaded rat: implication of novel calcium binding domains.

Background: In order to clarify the regulatory factors that promote precipitation of enamel crystals in mammalian tooth germs, possible calcium binding domains were visualized at the epithelial-mesenchymal interface of rat incisor teeth by means of electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis.

Methods: Adult rats were loaded with calcium (30 mM Ca) by vascular perfusion and further loaded through fixation and dehydration in the presence of high doses of calcium.

Results: Electron microscopy of anhydrously prepared Epon sections of the calcium-loaded rat incisors revealed numerous electron-dense granular deposits, enriched with calcium and phosphorus, scattering in the fibrous mantle dentin matrix and the intercellular spaces of the inner enamel epithelium, but not in the pulp tissues including the odontoblastic cells layer.

Bip/GRP78 but not calnexin associates with a precursor of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein.

When fused in-frame with a C-terminal propeptide of placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), rat alpha 2u-globulin (alpha GL), a nonglycosylated secretory protein, was expressed on the cell surface as a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked chimaeric protein (alpha GL-PLAP). In contrast with the wild-type alpha GL-PLAP, a mutant, in which Asp at the cleavage/attachment site of GPI was replaced by Trp, failed to become a GPI-linked mature form and was retained as a precursor form within the cell [Oda, Cheng, Saku, Takami, Sohda, Misumi, Ikehara and Millán (1994) Biochem. J.

IL-1 beta mRNA as the predominant inflammatory cytokine transcript: correlation with inflammatory cell infiltration into human gingiva.

Expression of mRNA for IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and TNF-alpha in inflamed gingiva was quantitatively examined by ribonuclease protection assay and in situ hybridization. The IL-1 beta mRNA expression level was statistically high (P < 0.05) in periodontitis-affected tissues compared with that in gingivitis-affected tissues.

Responses of periodontal nerve terminals to experimentally induced occlusal trauma in rat molars: an immunohistochemical study using PGP 9.5 antibody.

The response of periodontal nerves to experimentally induced occlusal trauma in rat molars was assessed by immunohistochemistry for protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) at light and electron microscopic levels, and by computerized image analysis.

In-vitro antibacterial susceptibility of bacteria taken from infected root dentine to a mixture of ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and minocycline.

The aim of this study was to clarify the antibacterial effect of a mixture of ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and minocycline, with and without the addition of rifampicin, on bacteria taken from infected dentine of root canal walls. The efficacy was also determined against bacteria of carious dentine and infected pulps which may the precursory bacteria of infected root dentine. This efficacy was estimated in vitro by measuring bacterial recovery on BHI-blood agar plates in the presence or absence of the drug combination.

Sterilization of infected root-canal dentine by topical application of a mixture of ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and minocycline in situ.

The aim of this study was to observe the potential of a mixture of ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and minocycline to kill bacteria in the deep layers of root canal dentine in situ. After the crowns of extracted teeth had been removed, the drug combination (0.5 mg of each drug), or sterile saline, as the control, was placed in the root canals which had been previously irrigated ultrasonically with G4M EDTA.

Expression of mRNA for matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in periodontitis-affected human gingival tissue.

It is known that the host responds to an increased concentration of collagenase [or matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1] by preferentially expressing mRNA for the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in order to overcome tissue destruction due to periodontitis. To further elucidate the relation between MMPs and TIMPs in periodontitis-affected tissues, the expression of mRNA for MMP-1, -3 and -8, and TIMP-1 and -2, in 10 gingival samples from patients and five from healthy individuals was assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The diseased group showed significantly higher levels of MMP-1, -3, -8 and TIMP-1 mRNA relative to beta-actin than the control group (mean +/- SE: diseased vs healthy (%): 0.

Lactacystin, an inhibitor of the proteasome, blocks the degradation of a mutant precursor of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked protein in a pre-Golgi compartment.

When transiently expressed in the COS-1 cell, a mutant chimeric protein with an uncleavable glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) -anchor signal failed to be modified by GPI and undergoes rapid degradation in a pre-Golgi compartment. Among several protease inhibitors, 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin and N-acetyl-L-leucinyl-L-leucinyl-L-norleucinal, potent inhibitors of the proteasome, strongly inhibited the degradation of the mutant protein. Furthermore, lactacystin, a highly specific inhibitor of the proteasome, was found to block the degradation.

Possible factors which may affect phase durations in the natural chewing rhythm.

To study central and peripheral control mechanisms maintaining rhythmical jaw behaviors, chewing movements with different foods in texture were obtained in the freely behaving rabbit. Jaw movement trajectories and muscle activities (masseter, digastric, thyrohyoid) were recorded and the durations in total cycle, fast closing (FC), slow closing (SC), and opening (OP) phases were obtained as well as the burst duration in the muscles. Durations varied cycle-by-cycle and among the foods, however, the total cycle duration was found to have little differences among the foods tested.

The biologic action of parathyroid hormone-related Peptide on bone and cartilage cells.

Parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) was originally identified as a factor inducing malignancy-associated hypercalcemia by activating a common receptor (PTH/PTHrP receptor) with PTH. Recently, PTHrP gene "knock-out" mice showed a form of dyschondroplasia due to reduced proliferation of chondrocytes. In addition, heterogenous populations of variously differentiated chondrocytes were seen in the hypertrophic zone of the mutant epiphyseal plate.

Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural localization of CGRP-positive nerve fibers at the epiphyseal trabecules facing the growth plate of rat femurs.

We performed immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies to disclose a possible relationship between nerve fibers and bone metabolism. Immunohistochemical distribution of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-positive nerve fibers during bone development was assessed in the femurs of rats. CGRP-positive nerve fibers were denser in the epiphysis than in the metaphysis.

Biased T cell receptor V gene usage in tissues with periodontal disease.

In an attempt to characterize TCR V gene usage in human periodontally diseased tissue, V alpha 2, V beta 5.2-3, V beta 5.3, V beta 5.

Eubacterium minutum sp. nov., isolated from human periodontal pockets.

We describe Eubacterium minutum sp. nov., which was isolated from human periodontal pockets.

Postnatal development of periodontal ruffini endings in rat incisors: an immunoelectron microscopic study using protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) antibody.

Postnatal development of Ruffini endings was ultrastructurally investigated in the upper incisors of the rat from 1 day to 60 days after birth by means of protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) immunocytochemistry.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 promotes prostaglandin E1-induced differentiation of HL-60 cells.

Human promyelocytic HL-60 cells can be induced by biochemical agents to differentiate in vitro towards divergent types of myelomonocytic cells. It has been reported that prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) can induce granulocytic differentiation and that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) can induce monocytic differentiation. We have now examined the effects of these compounds, both alone and in combination, on HL-60 cell differentiation.