The canonical BMP signaling pathway plays a crucial part in stimulation of dentin sialophosphoprotein expression by BMP-2.

Dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), a typical dentin-specific protein, is mainly expressed in the dentin extracellular matrix and plays a role in dentin mineralization. BMP-2 provides a strong signal for differentiation and mineralization of odontoblasts and osteoblasts. Previously, BMP-2 treatment is reported to stimulate Dspp expression in the MD10-F2 pre-odontoblast cells through activation of the heterotrimeric transcription factor Y (NF-Y). The canonical BMP signaling pathway is known to contribute greatly to biomineralization, however, it is not known whether it is involved in Dspp expression. Here, we investigated this question. Activation of the canonical BMP-2 signaling pathway in MDPC-23, preodontoblast cell, by overexpression of constitutively active Smad1/5 or downstream transcription factors Dlx5 and Runx2 stimulated Dspp expression. Conversely, knockdown of each element with siRNA significantly blocked the BMP-2-induced Dspp expression. To test whether these transcription factors downstream of BMP-2 are directly involved in regulating Dspp, we analyzed the mouse Dspp promoter. There are 5 well conserved homeodomain binding elements, H1 to H5, in Dspp proximal promoter regions (-791 to +54). A serial deletion of H1 and H2 greatly changed basal promoter activity and responsiveness to Dlx5 or Msx2. However, further deletions did not change the responsiveness to Dlx5 or Msx2. H1 and H2 sites can be suggested as specific response elements of Dlx5 and Msx2, respectively, based on their promoter activity modulation. Thus, the canonical BMP-2 signaling pathway plays a crucial part in the regulation of Dspp expression through the action of Smads, Dlx5, Runx2, and Msx2.