Cell-Matrix adhesions of soft tissue cells around dental implants

The importance of soft tissue response to implant abutments has become one of the major issues in current implant dentistry. To date, numerous studies have emphasized on maintaining connective tissue barriers in quantity, as well as in quality fir the long term success of dental implants. The cells mainly consisting the soft tissue around dental implants are fibroblasts and epithelial cells. The mechanism of the fibroblasts adhesions to certain substrata can be explained by the 'focal adhesion' theory. On the other hand, epithelial cells adhere tn the substratum via hemidesmosomes. The typical integrin-mediated adhesions of cells to certain matrix are called 'cell-matrix adhsions'. The focal adhesion complex of fibroblasts, in relation to the cell-matrix adhsions, consists of the extracellular matrix(ECM) such as fibronectin, the transmembrane proteins such as integrins, the intracellular cytoplasmic proteins such as vinculin, talin, and more, and the cytoskeletal structures such as filamentous actin and microtubules. The mechanosensory function of integrins and focal adhesion complexes are considered to play a major role in the cells adhesion, migration, proliferation, differentiation, division, and even apoptosis. The '3-D matrix adhesions' defined by Cukierman et al. makes a promising future for the verification of the actual process of the cell-matrix adhesions in vivo and can be applied to the field of implant dentistry in relation to obtaining strong soft tissue attachment to the implant abutments