Enamel knot (EK)—a signaling center—refers to a transient morphological structure comprising epithelial tissue. EK is believed to regulate tooth development in early organogenesis without its own cellular alterations, including proliferation and differentiation. EKs show a very simple but conserved structure and share functions with teeth of recently evolved vertebrates, suggesting conserved signaling in certain organs, such as functional teeth, through the course of evolution. In this study, we examined the expression patterns of key EK-specific genes including Dusp26 , Fat4, Meis2, Sln , and Zpld1 during mice embryogenesis. Expression patterns of these genes may reveal putative differentiation mechanisms underlying tooth morphogenesis.

Introduction
Materials and Methods
    1. 실험동물
    2. 조직형태학
    3. 조직절편 제자리보합법
    4. 관찰 및 촬영
Results
    1. 치아 발생 단계 조직형태학적 변화 및 일차 법랑질 결절의특징
    2. 일차 법랑질 결절 특이적 유전자의 발현 분석
Discussion
References

• Tae-Young Kim(Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, Institute for Hard Tissue and Bio-tooth Regeneration (IHBR), Kyungpook National University)
• Sanjiv Neupane(Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, Institute for Hard Tissue and Bio-tooth Regeneration (IHBR), Kyungpook National University)
• Yam Prasad Aryal(Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, Institute for Hard Tissue and Bio-tooth Regeneration (IHBR), Kyungpook National University)
• Eui-Seon Lee(Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, Institute for Hard Tissue and Bio-tooth Regeneration (IHBR), Kyungpook National University)
• Ji-Youn Kim(Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Science, Gachon University)
• Jo-Young Suh(Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, IHBR, Kyungpook National University)
• Youngkyun Lee(Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, Institute for Hard Tissue and Bio-tooth Regeneration (IHBR), Kyungpook National University)
• Wern-Joo Sohn(Pre-Major of Cosmetics and Pharmaceutics, Daegu Haany University)
• Seo-Young An(Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, IHBR, Kyungpook National University)
• Jung-Hong Ha(Department of Conservative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, IHBR, Kyungpook National University)
• Chang-Hyeon An(Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, IHBR, Kyungpook National University) Correspondence to
• Jae-Young Kim(Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, Institute for Hard Tissue and Bio-tooth Regeneration (IHBR), Kyungpook National University) Correspondence to