Construction and identification of mouse amelogenin cDNA clones.

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Abstract
The determination of the biochemical phenotype of tooth epithelium requires specification by the dental mesenchyme. This is a general feature of epithelial-mesenchymal interaction in a number of different epidermal organ systems (e.g., salivary gland, mammary gland, feather, skin and hair morphogenesis). To investigate these developmental processes, c[complementary]DNA clone representing the major group of gene products associated with enamel extracellular matrix formation was identified. The mRNA for mouse amelogenins, representing .apprxeq.90% of the total enamel proteins, were isolated and partially characterized by specific immunoprecipitation. The poly(A)-containing RNA were used for the synthesis and cloning of the mouse amelogenin cDNA. Recombinant plasmids containing amelogenin cDNA sequences were identified by differential hybridization, hybrid-selected translation and blot hybridization analyses. A clone sequence was used to identify the expression of amelogenins during tooth development. The mouse cDNA sequence hybridized to genomic mouse and human DNA. This amelogenin cDNA probe now enables molecular investigations of a number of classical problems in developmental biology.