Abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is not only involved in promoting vascular endothelial cell division and proliferation but also plays an important role in development, wound healing and bone formation and remodeling. Osteoblasts derived from VEGF are differentiated from osteoclasts through chemotaxis, resulting in increased number of local osteoclasts and enhanced local bone absorption. The interaction between epithelial and ecto mesenchymal tissues through the development of tooth germ occurs during dentin formation. The inner and outer enamel epithelia and dental papilla cells secrete VEGF and interact with its receptor, thereby promoting ameloblasts into odontoblast differentiation and maturation and influencing the formation of dentin and enamel. Genes involved in tooth occurrence are expressed in the enamel knot at the center of the tooth germ. Moreover, the signal transduction pathways associated with these genes are involved in tooth occurrence. VEGF gene expression is regulated by wingless-type mice mammary tumor virus integration site family/β-chain protein signal transduction pathway. Currently, the roles of VEGF and VEGFR in the development of tooth germ are only elucidated at the superficial level, and their functions and regulatory mechanism must be further investigated.

Key words: vascular endothelial growth factor, odontogenesis, osteogenesis