Preparation for growing teeth

2023: Product Announcement

In mid-June 2023, Japanese specialists from the Kitano Medical Research Institute in Osaka announced the development of a drug that allows new teeth to be grown in humans.

According to Katsu Takahashi, project manager, he has been working on the technology of growing new teeth for years. Experts have found that antibodies to the USAG-1 gene can stimulate tooth growth in mice suffering from congenital agenesia - a genetic disease that leads to the absence of teeth. In fact, scientists have found that USAG-1 interacts with other proteins to inhibit tooth growth. However, blocking such interaction can lead to bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, which triggers the growth mechanism of new teeth. It has been shown that BMP is one of the main groups of morphogenetic signaling proteins that organize the construction of tissues in the body. It is noted that oral surgery and orthopedic surgery significantly benefited from the appearance on the market of BMP drugs, which are produced using genetic engineering methods.

The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist's dream. We hope to pave the way for the clinical application of the new drug, "said Takahashi.

After experiments on mice, the team of researchers conducted similar experiments on ferrets - this work also yielded positive results. The animals grew a seventh front tooth, which was the same shape and structure as its neighbors. Going forward, Takahashi's team intends to focus on testing the drug for humans. Clinical trials scheduled for July 2024 will initially be conducted on volunteers with dental agenesis. It is planned that the tool will appear on the commercial market approximately in 2030.^[1]

Notes