news in brief
Genetic Discovery at Oregon State Could Lead to Advances in Dental Treatment Researchers at the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State Uni- growth of new enamel. Some research groups are already havversity have identified the gene that ultimately controls the ing success growing the inner portions of teeth in laboratory production of tooth enamel, a significant advance that could animal experiments, but those teeth have no hard coatings – some day lead to the repair of damaged enamel, a new concept the scientists lacked the genetic material that makes enamel. in cavity prevention and restoration, or even the production of “A lot of work would still be needed to bring this to human apreplacement teeth. plications, but it should work,” Kioussi said. “It could be really The gene, called Ctip2, is a “transcription factor” that was al- cool—a whole new approach to dental health.” ready known to have several functions – in immune response and the development of skin and the nervous system. Scientists Now that they’ve made the initial discovery, the OSU team of researchers will continue their basic research and hope to see can now add tooth development to that list. its human applications in approximately four to six years. “It’s not unusual for a gene to have multiple functions, but before this we didn’t know what regulated the production of tooth enamel,” said Chrissa Kioussi, an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University and one of the collaborators on the study. “This is the first transcription factor ever found to control the formation and maturation of ameloblasts, which are the cells that secrete enamel.” The researchers used a laboratory mouse model in this study in which this gene has been “knocked out” and its protein is missing. Such mice lack basic biological systems and cannot live after birth, but allow scientists to study what is there and what’s missing. In this case, the mice had rudimentary teeth ready to erupt, but they lacked a proper enamel coating and never would have been functional. A normal mouse tooth on the left where ameloblast cells that produce enamel are glowing in red. On the right is a tooth with the Ctip2 gene deleted and little enamel has been able to form.
The findings were just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. With an understanding of its genetic underpinning, Kioussi said it may be possible to use tooth stem cells to stimulate the
AJPE Expands to Include More Submissions The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (AJPE) will increase publication from six to eight issues in 2009 and from eight to 10 issues in 2010. This expansion is to meet the increased number of submissions from U.S. and international authors. “This will allow us to publish more quality research findings, instructional design ideas and insightful special articles in a timely manner,” said Dr. Joseph T. DiPiro, editor of AJPE. “As the numbers of pharmacy schools and faculty have increased, the overall scholarly activity of the Academy has greatly increased. Also, we are receiving many more international submissions.”
AJPE, which is the official journal of AACP, has experienced an unprecedented increase (approximately 50 percent) in the number of manuscripts submitted in recent years, and is consistently ranked by AACP members as one of the most valued resources provided by the Association. Its publication dates back more than 100 years. Senior Assistant Editor Karen Shipp and Associate Editors Gayle Brazeau, Jack Fincham and Claire Anderson, along with editorial board members, have all contributed to the Journal’s expansion.
academic Pharmacy now Apr/May/June 2009
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