OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases(PI3K)/protein-serine-threonine kinase(AKt) signaling pathway and orthodontic tooth movement.

METHODSTwenty-four rabbits were chosen to establish rabbit models for the study. The right maxillary teeth of each animal treated by orthodontics were as the test side, and the untreated left teeth were as the control side. The animals were sacrificed at 3, 5, 7, 14 d, respectively. The prepared tissue specimens were processed for the study. The changes of the expression of PI3K, AKt in periodontal tissues were detected by real-time quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) and Western blot techniques.

RESULTSRQ-PCR showed that the expression of PI3K, AKt mRNA dramatically changed at 3 d. The expression of PI3K, AKt mRNA in the test side was higher than the control side, especially at 7 d, and then decreased. Compared with the control side, there was statistical significant difference in the test side(P < 0.05). The study obtained consistent conclusion from Western blot and RQ-PCR.

CONCLUSIONExpression of PI3K, AKt in rabbit periodontal tissues increase during orthodontic tooth movement, which prompts that PI3K/AKt signal pathways relate to orthodontic tooth movement and PI3K/AKt signal pathway involve in the periodontal tissue remodeling.