Immunohistochemically localization of vascular endothelial growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, collagen I and fibronectin in the epithelia-mesenchymal junction of the human tooth germ.

During tooth development, tooth shape is mediated by the ECM through epithelial-mesenchymal interactions mediated by the ECM at the epithelia-mesenchymal junction. Blood vessel endothelium growth is mainly regulated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the relationship between tooth shape formation and VEGF are unknown. We examined immunohistochemical localization of VEGF and its receptor VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), collagen I and fibronectin, (both representative protein of ECM) at the epithelia-mesenchymal junction of human deciduous teeth from the cap stage to late bell stages in a human fetus at 16, 20, 24, 28 and 32 weeks of gestation. Immunoreactivity at the basement membrane for VEGF was detected from the cap stage to the bell stage. Immunoreactivity to fibronectin was weak in the cap stage and increased in the bell stage; collagen I was negative in the cap stage and slightly expressed in the bell stage in the basement membrane. We suggest that VEGF and ECM affect cooperatively in tooth shape formation at the basement membrane.