Yellow Teeth? Blame Your Tooth Enamel Gene
Enamel is the outermost layer of your teeth. It is one of the hardest substances in nature. The thin calcified layer of enamel protects the main portion of the teeth called dentin. If you have good enamel you have good teeth. Problems with enamel lead to cavities and possibly even loss of teeth. Scientists have been hard at work to find out the ins and outs of teeth enamel and they have stumbled on to the enamel gene.
Genes are responsible for all the physical characteristics of a human being. Right from the color of your eyes to whether you are going to succumb to a rare, incurable disease, genes decide what your body is going be like even before you are born. Blame it on the genes, for anything and everything that cannot be fixed or altered and is therefore unpleasant.
Add yellow teeth to the list of traits that one could have done away with, if only the genes were not so nasty. Scientists have recently discovered that the gene that is directly responsible for all activities of the enamel secreting cells. This is the gene that decides what your enamel will look like, how strong it is and how easy it is for you to develop cavities.
The research paper talks about Ctip2 gene that plays a role in immune response of the body as well as the skin and nervous system development. It is this gene that controls enamel secretion as well.
A single gene may actually be responsible for several physiological functions. But this is the first time that scientists have been able to isolate the gene that is directly responsible for the secretion of teeth enamel. The cells that secrete enamel are called ameloblasts. The enamel gene controls the formation and maturation of ameloblasts and directly affects the color and strength of the enamel produced by the body.
The research was conducted by studying mice which were stripped off the Ctip2 gene. Scientists found that the skin and nervous system in these mice were underdeveloped. In addition to that, scientists also noted that the mice were incapable of developing a proper enamel coating. The teeth would never have become functional without the Ctip2 gene.
The finding has far reaching implications in dentistry. Since scientists have discovered what causes the enamel to behave as it does, doctors may one day turn to tooth stem cells to create new enamel. Scientists have already succeeded in creating some parts of the teeth using stem cells in lab animals. But without enamel the tooth cannot function.
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