Yoshiki Kawase
Pronouns: he/him/his
Research Mentor(s): Yuji Mishina, Professor
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Biological and Material Sciences, School of Dentistry
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 3 (1pm-1:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 10
Presenter: 4
Abstract
Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJD) are a series of disorders that affect the joint articulating the mandible and the skull, which is responsible for jaw movement. Abnormal jaw movement and abnormal temporomandibular joint (TMJ) shape are typical symptoms in TMJD patients. It is yet unknown whether abnormal TMJ movement is a result of the alterations in the TMJ in TMJD. In this study, we will use Evc2 mutant mice, which bears TMJ in abnormal shape, to understand if abnormal joint shape may lead to abnormal jaw movement. Currently, video of one mutant mouse, which has its Evc2 gene deleted in neural crest derived tissues, and one control mouse were taken to analyze jaw movement. After tracking fiducial markers planted in the mice with a program called XMALab onto a 3D coordinate plane for four consistent chews, we discovered a difference in chewing pattern between the mutant mouse and the control mouse by looking at the distance between the mandible and the skull in the duration of its chewing. We found that while the control mouse clearly had two types of chewing patterns, the mutant mouse only had a scattered chewing pattern with one noticeable type of chewing pattern. The chewing range of the mutant mouse was approximately half of that of the chewing range of the control mouse. Possible explanations of this is that the mutant mouse possibly is not physically capable of moving the jaw to do two cycles or the mouse could be in possible pain, preventing the two chewing patterns we saw in control. There is a notable difference in the chewing patterns between the control mouse and the mutant mouse, indicating that abnormal TMJ impacts chewing cycle.
Authors: Yoshiki Kawase, Yuji Mishina, PhD, Honghao Zhang, Ke’ale Louie
Research Method: Laboratory Research with Animals
