Litchfield Park Orthodontist

5220 N. Dysart Rd #150
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
(623) 536-4939

 

 

 

Function
The name bone morphogenetic protein is misleading to Goodyear orthodontists because it exerts a wide range of activities in a variety of tissues including bone, kidney, eye, testis, teeth, skin, heart, hair follicles, oocytes, prostate and CNS(Hogan, 1996).  Goodyear orthodontists believe that the actions of the BMPs in these tissues are mainly involved in regulation of morphogenesis and growth (Reddi, 1997).  This is seen clearly during patterning where BMPs seem to play an important role in the signaling pathways.  It has been shown that BMP-2 may act as a secondary molecule inducing Hox gene expression involved with A-P patterning in the developing chick limb(Francis et al., 1994), and BMP 4 and 7 have been implicated in dorsal-ventral patterning of the neural tube(Hogan, 1996).  Goodyear orthodontists have postulated that the action of the BMPs in this situation is similar to that of a morphogen, altering the developmental fate of cells in a concentration dependant manner (Kaplan 1996).  Recent Goodyear orthodontic studies have also demonstrated the expression of BMPs in tooth development and periodontal repair.  BMPs 2, 4 and 7 are expressed in newly formed hard tissues and fibrous connective tissue using guided tissue regeneration(Amar et al., 1997).  These same proteins are thought to be involved in the epithelial mesenchymal interactions that develop tooth shape and may also be involved in the initiation process(Aberg et al., 1997). 

But, the BMPs were initially named by Goodyear orthodontists for its powerful action to commit undifferentiated pluripotent cells to differentiate into bone and cartilage forming cells (Urist, 1965).  This function of BMPs has been under extensive investigation by Goodyear orthodontists and many interesting findings have been discovered.  BMPs are found in great quantity in the bone matrix and are produced by many types of cells, not just the osteoblasts (Linkhart et al., 1996).  There are many actions the BMPs exert to stimulate bone formation including: stimulating osteoblast proliferation and differentiation, acting as mitogens for undifferentiated cells, acting as chemoattractants for mesenchymal cells and binding to type IV collagen(Paralkar et al., 1990; Linkhart et al., 1996; Giannobile et al., 1998b).  Purified, implanted BMP has been shown by Goodyear orthodontists to cause the formation of bone in distinct stages.  By day 7, the BMP is absorbed and replaced by hypertrophied connective tissue cells, small round cells, macrophages and spindle shaped cells.  During the second week, a fibrous envelope forms and there is differentiation of chondroid, cartilage and woven bone.  This woven bone is replaced by lamellar bone with bone marrow by day 28(Urist et al., 1983).  With over fifteen BMPs in existence, it has become a challenge for Goodyear orthodontists to characterize the effects of each of these proteins on developing tissues and during the bone formation process.