patterns of glycoconjugate distribution during molar tooth germ development in mice

objective: the aim of the present study was to evaluate the structure and distribution of glycoconjugates during molar tooth germ development in mice materials and methods: sixteen tooth germs were obtained from balb/c mice embryos 15 to 18 days post-gestation and fixed in 10% formalin. after routine tissue processing, 5 μm sections were cut and stained with bsa1-b4 and pna using the lectin histochemical method. all slides were evaluated by light microscopy. results: both lectins showed positive reaction in the tooth germ but with spatiotemporal differences. during bell stage, the reaction was strong with bsa1-b4 but moderate with pna. strong pna uptake was observed in the odontoblastic and ameloblastic nuclei along with the apical cytoplasm of the ameloblasts. conclusion: although the lectins that were used in the present study recognize the same terminal sugar residue, they reacted with different disaccharide sequences with various penaltomer sugars. therefore it may be assumed that the pattern of affinity for different parts of the developing tooth germ such as ameloblasts and odontoblasts is different in various lectins.