Evaluation of pluripotency in human dental pulp cells.

Purpose: Postnatal stem cells have been isolated from various tissues, including bone marrow, neural tissue, skin, retina, and dental epithelium. Recently, adult stem cells have been isolated from human dental pulp. Postnatal stem cells have been isolated from a variety of tissues. Previously, it was generally accepted that the differentiation potential of postnatal stem cells was lineage restricted.

Materials And Methods: Normal impacted third molars were collected from adults and normal exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED; stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth) by single-colony selection and magnetic activated cell sorting.

Results: BMP-2 treatment groups produced alkaline phosphatase in the cells and also produced and secreted osteocalcin in the culture medium, and were capable of inducing an upregulated expression of Osteocalcin or Sox9, Col 2, and Col X by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For adipogenic differentiation, there is potential for SHED and dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) to express 2 adipocyte-specific transcripts, PPARgamma2 and LPL, in vitro, as do bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by RT-PCR.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that pluripotential cells isolated from the pulp of human teeth expanded in vitro and differentiated into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. DPSC and SHED are not only derived from a very accessible tissue resource but also capable of providing enough cells for potential clinical applications.