Fgf9 promotes incisor dental epithelial stem cell survival and enamel formation

Our study demonstrates that Fgf9 is essential for DESC survival and enamel formation. Fgf9 performs as a dual-directional regulator of the dental enamel epithelium, not only inhibiting DESC differentiation into ameloblasts to preserve the stemness of DESC, but also promoting ameloblast differentiation through epithelial-mesenchymal interactions.