Influence of the lateral pterygoid muscle on the growth of the mandibular condilar cartilage

At the end of the last century, a model to explain clinical observations related to the mandibular growth was developed. According to it, the lateral pterigoid muscle (LPM) was one of the main modulators of the differentiation of mesenquimal cells inside the condyle to condroblasts or osteoblasts, and therefore of the growth of the mandibular condilar cartilage (CCM). The main components of the model were the humoral and the mechanical. Nowadays, the humoral would include growth factors such as IGF-I, FGF-2 and VEGF, which seem to be involved in mandibular growth. Since skeletal muscle can secrete these growth factors, there is a possibility that LPM modulates the growth of CCM by a paracrine or endocrine mechanism. The mechanical component derived from the observations that both the blood flow inside the temporomandibular joint (ATM) and the action of the retrodiscal pad on the growth of the CCM, depend, in part, on the contractile activity of the LPM. Despite the fact that there are some results suggesting  hat LPM is activated under conditions of mandibular protrusion, there is no full agreement on whether this can stimulate the growth of CCM. In this review, the contributions and limitations of the works related to mandibular growth are discussed and a model which integrates the available information to explain the role of the LPM in the growth of the CCM is proposed.

Expresión del factor de crecimiento fibroblastico tipo 8 en el desarrollo temprano del pez cebra

Dentro del estudio de la expresión de diferentes genes, el teleósteo Danio rerio (Pez cebra) ha sido modelo de estudio del desarrollo de los vertebrados. Esta especie es ventajosa para este fin por diferentes razones, entre- ellas están la producción de grandes camadas durante todo el año, son fácilmente mantenidos, sus embriones son transparentes y se desarrollan fuera de la madre, tienen un desarrollo rápido, ya que en las 24 horas post -fecundación ya están formados la mayor parte de tejidos y primordios de los órganos, se pueden generar mutantes que se pueden propagar y estudiar muy fácilmente. Este trabajo pretende mostrar la relación entre la expresión temprana del Factor de Crecimiento Fibroblástico tipo 8 (FGF8) y el desarrollo del Sistema Nervioso Central de esta especie.