Background
Transcription factors have been implicated in regulating the differentiation of odontoblasts from dental pulp stem cells/progenitors (DPSCs/progenitors), but their regulatory network is not completely understood. Result: New transcription factors that control the odontoblast differentiation of human DPSCs/progenitors were analyzed using a microarray. The result revealed bobby sox homolog (BBX) to be expressed most strongly during odontoblast differentiation. Validation using RT-PCR also revealed the strong expression of BBX during the odontoblast differentiation of DPSCs/progenitors. BBX expression was also detected in adult molar odontoblasts and other tissues, including the heart, kidney, testis, and bone marrow. To understand the role of BBX in odontoblast differentiation, BBX variant 1 and 2 cDNA were cloned and overexpressed in DPSCs/progenitors. The
Conclusion
Our results suggest that BBX plays an important role during the odontoblast differentiation of human DPSCs/progenitors.