Craniofacial Development Protein 1 (CFDP1)

Morphometric analysis revealed an increase in tooth size in cultures treated with Cp27 peptide. In contrast, tooth organs treated with antibodies against Cp27 shrank and gradually disintegrated. The Cp27 antibody-treated group showed increased numbers of apoptotic cells, and immunohistochemical staining for keratansulfate proteoglycans suggested that surviving cells gained a cartilaginous phenotype.

The deduced 295-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 33 kD and shares 85% homology with human CFDP1. It has a helix-loop-helix structure and an internal repeat sequence.Northern blot analysis detected a 1.8-kb transcript expressed at high levels in developing mouse teeth and at lower levels in heart, lung, and liver.