Université de Strasbourg

Improved osseointegration

A clinically-based model for improving alveolar bone growth and osseointegration

USIAS Fellow : Agnès Bloch-Zupan

Patients carrying null mutations of a matricellular protein-coding gene SMOC2 (SPARC-related modular calcium-binding protein) exhibit pronounced alveolar (jaw) bone growth deficiency and oligodontia (missing and abnormally shaped teeth). The functional properties of SMOC2 suggest it acts as a secreted signal inducing tooth and alveolar bone development. SMOC2 is expressed in various stem cell populations. To determine SMOC2 action, Smoc2-null mutants, oral epithelium and neural crest-specific mutants, and an EGFP-ires-CreERT2 lineage reporter will be used to investigate craniofacial phenotypes, determine the origins and mechanism of resulting defects, and perform lineage tracing of Smoc2-labeled populations of dental stem cells. In a therapeutically directed approach we will test if adenoviral overexpression of human SMOC2 improves bone growth in wild-type and mutant mice. Finally using a pre-clinical model for dental implants, Smoc2-/- mice will be tested for osseointegration defects and ability of SMOC2 treatment to increase dental implant success rate.

France 2030