E XP ER I ME NTAL C E LL RE S E ARCH
] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yexcr
Editorial or Introduction
Introduction to the ECR special odontology issue The 14 invited review articles in this special issue cover a variety of current issues in the fields of odontology and oral biology. The main focus is in cell and developmental biology of oral tissues, and the pathogenesis of congenital defects and oral diseases. In these articles, scientists in the early/mid-stages of their careers present their own research and discuss current progress and future avenues in their fields. Common themes in most articles are the roles of conserved signaling pathways and extracellular matrix molecules in development and pathogenesis. The cranial neural crest cells give rise to most connective tissues in the head region, including bones and all dental tissues except enamel, and they are dealt with in several articles. These discuss fate determination of the cranial neural crest cells, their interactions with other tissues and roles in the pathogenesis of birth defects. In addition, their functions in cranial bone development and in the regulation of tongue muscle formation are addressed. Many articles focus on tooth formation and dental pathologies. The topics of these include the interactions between the morphogenesis and innervation of teeth, root formation, stem cell niches in teeth as compared with other organs, and tooth regeneration. The formation and composition of the specific extracellular mineralizing matrices of the bones and dental hard tissues are obviously of key functional importance, and these issues are discussed in several articles in the
context of bone, dentin and enamel formation. Two papers deal with the pathogenesis of periodontal disease addressing the functions of integrins and their activation, and the role of lymphatic vessels, respectively. Oral cancer is the topic of the last two articles, one dealing with oral epithelial stem cells and cancer stem cells, and the other with the role of tumor microenvironment in oral carcinoma. I am very grateful to all authors for writing the excellent articles reviewing their own work as well as the latest advances in their fields. Helsinki 2014
Irma Thesleff Institute of Biotechnology, POB 56, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail address: Irma.thesleff@helsinki.fi
0014-4827/$ - see front matter & 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yexcr.2014.04.008
] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yexcr
Editorial or Introduction
Introduction to the ECR special odontology issue The 14 invited review articles in this special issue cover a variety of current issues in the fields of odontology and oral biology. The main focus is in cell and developmental biology of oral tissues, and the pathogenesis of congenital defects and oral diseases. In these articles, scientists in the early/mid-stages of their careers present their own research and discuss current progress and future avenues in their fields. Common themes in most articles are the roles of conserved signaling pathways and extracellular matrix molecules in development and pathogenesis. The cranial neural crest cells give rise to most connective tissues in the head region, including bones and all dental tissues except enamel, and they are dealt with in several articles. These discuss fate determination of the cranial neural crest cells, their interactions with other tissues and roles in the pathogenesis of birth defects. In addition, their functions in cranial bone development and in the regulation of tongue muscle formation are addressed. Many articles focus on tooth formation and dental pathologies. The topics of these include the interactions between the morphogenesis and innervation of teeth, root formation, stem cell niches in teeth as compared with other organs, and tooth regeneration. The formation and composition of the specific extracellular mineralizing matrices of the bones and dental hard tissues are obviously of key functional importance, and these issues are discussed in several articles in the
context of bone, dentin and enamel formation. Two papers deal with the pathogenesis of periodontal disease addressing the functions of integrins and their activation, and the role of lymphatic vessels, respectively. Oral cancer is the topic of the last two articles, one dealing with oral epithelial stem cells and cancer stem cells, and the other with the role of tumor microenvironment in oral carcinoma. I am very grateful to all authors for writing the excellent articles reviewing their own work as well as the latest advances in their fields. Helsinki 2014
Irma Thesleff Institute of Biotechnology, POB 56, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail address: Irma.thesleff@helsinki.fi
0014-4827/$ - see front matter & 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yexcr.2014.04.008
