Primary cilia, with highly regulated cellular sensory functions, play key roles in tissue development and function maintenance. Intraflagellar transport 140 (IFT140) is a subunit of IFT complex A, which is specialized for retrograde transportation in cilia. Mutations of Ift140 are usually associated with syndromic ciliopathy and may cause isolated diseases such as retinal dystrophy, short ribs, and polycystic kidney. However, the role of IFT140 in tooth development has not been well investigated. In this study, a close relationship between IFT140 and dentin formation is disclosed. During tooth development, IFT140 was highly expressed in odontoblasts. To further understand the role of IFT140 in dentinogenesis, Ift140flox/flox/Osx-Cre mouse was generated. The dentin thickness of Ift140flox/flox/Osx-Cre mouse is thinner and the dentin formation is slower than that in control. In vitro, deletion of IFT140 in odontoblasts led to poor odontogenic differentiation, abnormal primary cilia, and decreased Sonic hedgehog signaling molecules. More important, due to loss of primary cilia in odontoblasts by IFT140 deletion, reparative dentin formation was impaired in a tooth-drilling model. These results suggest that cilia gene IFT140 is essential in promoting dentin formation and reparation.
Keywords: cilia; intraflagellar transport; odontoblast; regeneration; reparative dentin; tooth root.