The dentino-enamel junction revisited

The dentino-enamel junction is not an simple inert interface between two mineralized structures. A less simplistic view suggests that the dentino-enamel junctional complex should also include the inner aprismatic enamel and the mantle dentin. At early stages of enamel formation, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 is stored in and released from the inner aprismatic enamel, possibly under the control of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3. The concentration peak for MMP-2 and -9 observed in the mantle dentin coincided with a very low labeling for TIMP-1 and -2, favoring the cross-talk between mineralizing epithelial and connective structures, and as a consequence the translocation of enamel proteins toward odontoblasts and pulp cells, and vice versa, the translocation of dentin proteins toward secretory ameloblasts and cells of the enamel organ. Finally, in X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets, large interglobular spaces in the circumpulpal dentin were the major defect induced by the gene alteration, whereas the mantle dentin was constantly unaffected. Altogether, these data plead for the recognition of the dentino-enamel junctional complex as a specific entity bearing its own biological characteristics.