Mouse Incisor Stem Cell Niche and Myb Transcription Factors

Dental hard tissues are formed particularly by odontoblasts (dentin) and ameloblasts (enamel). Whereas the reparation of dentin is often observed, enamel does not regenerate in most species. However, in mouse incisor, a population of somatic stem cells in the cervical loop is responsible for the incisor regeneration. Understanding of the specificities of these cells is therefore of an interest in basic research as well as regenerative therapies. The Myb transcription factors are involved in essential cellular processes. B-Myb is often linked to the stem cell phenotype, and c-Myb expression marks undifferentiated and proliferating cells such as the stem cells. In the presented study, temporo-spatial expression of B-Myb and c-Myb proteins was correlated with localisation of putative somatic stem cells in the mouse incisor cervical loop by immunohistochemistry. B-Myb expression was localised mostly in the zone of transit-amplifying cells, and c-Myb was found in the inner enamel epithelium, the surrounding mesenchyme and in differentiated cells. Taken together, neither B-Myb nor c-Myb was exclusively present or abundant in the area of the incisor stem cell niche. Their distribution, however, supports recently reported novel functions of c-Myb in differentiation of hard tissue cells.