Proteome analysis of developing mice diastema region

Different from humans, who have a continuous dentition ofteeth, mice have only three molars and one incisor separatedby a toothless region called the diastema in the hemimandibular arch. Although tooth buds form in the embryonicdiastema, they regress and do not develop into teeth. In thisstudy, we evaluated the proteins that modulate the diastemaformation through comparative analysis with molar-formingtissue by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy(LC-MS/MS) proteome analysis. From the comparative andsemi-quantitative proteome analysis, we identified 147 up- and173 down-regulated proteins in the diastema compared to themolar forming proteins. Based on this proteome analysis, weselected and evaluated two candidate proteins, EMERIN andRAB7A, as diastema tissue specific markers. This studyprovides the first list of proteins that were detected in themouse embryonic diastema region, which will be useful tounderstand the mechanisms of tooth development.