Gene Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A and its Receptors in Dental Pulp of Immature and Mature Teeth

OBJECTIVE: Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and its receptors are essential proteins for the angiogenic activity of dental pulp. Angiogenesis fundamentally provides oxygen and nutrients to cells for root formation and defence mechanisms. The angiogenic potential of dental pulp should be understood and considered for the conservative and regenerative endodontics. The purpose of this research was to measure the VEGFA expression and its receptors such as vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, -2 (VEGFR1, VEGFR2) and Neuropilin 1 (NRP1) in human dental pulp from molars with immature and mature apexes. METHODS: VEGFA system mRNAs expressions were assessed in dental pulp obtained from freshly extracted human third molars divided into immature (n=8) and mature (n=8) apexes. RNAs were extracted from the samples. Each sample's cDNA was synthetized and the target genes VEGFA, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, NRP1 expression profiles obtained by RT2-PCR. Analysis was based on the Student's t-test comparing the replicate 2-ΔCt: values for each gene. P values of <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: In teeth with mature apexes, VEGFA (P=0.0002), NRP1 (P=0.0001), VEGFR1 (P=0.0057) and VEGFR2 (P=0.018259) significantly increased statistically with respect to the immature apexes group. CONCLUSION: Within the limitation of the present investigation, it can be concluded that the angiogenic process seems to be a physiological process in the dental pulp due to the studied angiogenic growth factor are expressed in both immature and mature dental pulps. VEGFA and its receptors are expressed significantly higher in mature apex teeth than immature apex teeth.