Development

Our developmental biology questions include regulation of tooth shape, number, and size. We mostly use the mouse as a model system, but also study other rodents, such as voles and hamsters. Our techniques are focused on culture systems and quantitative developmental biology to modify tooth shape. Some of the studied genetic pathways are mutated in human diseases, and we use both microarray and RNAseq methods to study gene networks involved in tooth development.

Above: Tomography reveals the high surface complexity of mouse molars cultured with a cocktail of three kinds of molecules in a culture medium (bottom row). Epifluorescence of ShhGFP allows visualization of teeth (left), microtomography allows reconstruction of shapes (middle), and the topographic OPC method allows determination of surface complexity (right).
Harjunmaa et al. (2012) Nature