Research Highlights
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lutions for problems in oral health care. The following faculty were awarded seed grants funded for one year by the NIH P30 grant program, “Baylor’s Program for Bioengineering Sciences and Translational 2ESEARCH " "%34v Dr. Jerry Feng, Department of BioMEDICAL 3CIENCES h"-0 RECEPTOR 1A (Bmp1a) null osteoblast cells acCELERATE BONE TOOTH REPAIRv Dr. Takashi Komabayashi, DepartMENT OF %NDODONTICS h)NNOVATIVE
endodontic inter-canal medication for open apex permanent teeth using an intelligent release system of calcium hydroxide� Dr. Phillip Kramer, Department of BioMEDICAL 3CIENCES h$RUG LOADED MIcrospheres and TMJ pain treatment� Dr. Paula Ortiz, Department of PeriODONTICS h4HE EFFECT OF LOCAL DELIVery of TNF- Ď on periodontal disease� Dr. Chunlin Qin, Department of "IOMEDICAL 3CIENCES h$-0 AND
biomimetic nano-structured scaffold in osteogenesis� Dr. Kathy Svoboda, Department OF "IOMEDICAL 3CIENCES h6ISUALizing cell scaffold interactions in real time� The co-investigator on each of these projects is Dr. Xiaohua Liu, who is an expert in bioengineering studies on topics such as biomimetic nano-structured scaffolds and microsphere technology.
Engagement Through Professional Meetings One important aspect of the life of faculty and students is attendance at professional meetings where they have opportunities to share their research or teaching methodology, learn about new ideas in their field of expertise, and meet others with the same interests who may become collaborators and colleagues. BMS faculty and students are no different. In addition to attending the annual meetings of professional organizations such as the American Association for Dental Research and the Society for Neuroscience, members of the department participated in other scientific forums where they gave presentations as well as attended presentations. The 10th International Conference on the Chemistry and Biology of Mineralized Tissues (ICCBMT) was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, from .OVEMBER th to 12th, 2010. The goal of the meeting was to present the most recent information about the structure, function and interactions of the mineral, matrix, and cellular components of bones, teeth and other mineralized vertebrate and invertebrate tissues of the body. A contingent of BMS faculty and students attended the meeting SHOWN IN THE PICTURE ON PAGE
and gave the following oral and POSTER PRESENTATIONS Dr. Rena D’Souza – Molecular insights into BMP4-dependent signaling during tooth morphogenesis Dr. Yao Sun – Failure to process dentin matrix protein 1 into fragments leads to the loss of its function in osteogenesis and dentinogenesis Dr. Afsaneh Rangiani – Unique roles of DMP1 and phosphate in hard tissues Dr. Xianglong Han – A marrow “guardian� cell inhibits marrow space mineralization and TRABECULARIZATION THROUGH 3OST sclerostin expression Anika Voisey – ALK3 controls the CELL FATE OF TOOTH BONE VIA 4'& ” signaling pathway Dr. Jay Groppe – In vitro analyses OF THE DYSREGULATED 2 ( !,+ ACVR1 kinase linked to heterotopic ossification in FOP Katherine Regan – Bioactive multidomain peptides and their application for dental tissue regeneration Posters were also presented by BMS PERSONNEL Qinglin Zhu, Yao Sun, Yongbo Lu, Xiaofang Wang, Monica Prasad, Albert Yamoah, Jian Q. Feng,
Chunlin Qin. Proteolytic processing of dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) were blocked by substitutions of amino acid residues at cleavage sites. Xiaofang Wang, Yixia Xie, Janjun Hao, Brianda Hernandez, Yao Sun, Albert Yamoah, Monica Prasad, Qinglin Zhu, Jian Q. Feng, Chunlin Qin. The expression of FAM20C (DMP4) in the tooth and skeleton indicates a unique role of this protein in odontogenesis and osteogenesis. Yao Sun, Monica Prasad, Albert Yamoah, Jian Q. Feng, Chunlin Qin. Detection of small integrin-binding ligand, N-linked glycoprotein (SIBLING) family members in the rat brain. Kerstin M. Galler, Katherine R. Regan, Gottfried Schmalz, Jeffrey D. Hartgerink, Rena N. D’Souza. Growth factor-binding to selfassembling peptide hydrogels for dental tissue regeneration. Yongbo Lu, Yucheng Li, Adriana Cavender, Alka Mansukhani, Rena D’Souza. Runx2 controls FGF SIGNALING THROUGH 4WIST AND % heterodimers. Afsaneh Rangiani, Rong Zhang, Omar Ashraf, Baozhi Yuan, Yixia Xie, Chunlin Qin, Makoto Kuro-o, Jian Q. Feng. Unique roles of DMP1 and continued page 7