Recent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) with the potential for cell-mediated therapies and tissue engineering applications can be isolated from extracted dental tissues. Here, we investigated the collection, processing, and cryobiological characteristics of MSC from human teeth processed under current good tissue practices (cGTP). Viable dental pulp-derived MSC (DPSC) cultures were isolated from 31 of 40 teeth examined. Of eight DPSC cultures examined more thoroughly, all expressed appropriate cell surface markers and underwent osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation in appropriate differentiation medium, thus meeting criteria to be called MSC. Viable DPSC were obtained up to 120 h postextraction. Efficient recovery of DPSC from cryopreserved intact teeth and second-passage DPSC cultures was achieved. These studies indicate that DPSC isolation is feasible for at least 5 days after tooth extraction, and imply that processing immediately after extraction may not be required for successful banking of DPSC. Further, the recovery of viable DPSC after cryopreservation of intact teeth suggests that minimal processing may be needed for the banking of samples with no immediate plans for expansion and use. These initial studies will facilitate the development of future cGTP protocols for the clinical banking of MSC.

Background: Numerous studies have highlighted that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can bind to microRNA (miRNA) sites as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), thereby affecting and regulating the expression of mRNAs and target genes. These lncRNA-associated ceRNAs have been theorized to play a significant role in cancer initiation and progression. However, the roles and functions of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue (SCCT) are still unclear. Methods: The miRNA, mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles from 138 patients with SCCT were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. We identified the differential expression of miRNAs, mRNAs, and lncRNAs using the limma package of R software. We used the clusterProfiler package for GO and KEGG pathway annotations. The survival package was used to estimate survival analysis according to the Kaplan-Meier curve. Finally, the GDCRNATools package was used to construct the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network.

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) have drawn much interest for the regeneration of mineralized tissues, and several studies have compared DPSC to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSC). However, conflicting results, possibly due to donor-associated variability, have been published and the regenerative potential of DPSC is currently unclear. In the present study we have sought to address this problem using a donor-matched experimental design to robustly compare the biological properties of DPSC and BMMSC. All experiments were performed using cells isolated from a single adult Sprague-Dawley rat. Our results show that DPSC and BMMSC had similar morphologies and flow cytometry profiles, were capable of forming colonies in vitro, and were capable of osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic differentiation. However, quantitative comparisons revealed that DPSC had a faster population doubling time and a higher percentage of stem/progenitor cells in the population as determined by clonogenic assays. Furthermore, while both cell populations formed mineral in vitro, DPSC had significantly higher alkaline phosphatase activity than BMMSC after three weeks in osteogenic medium. These data show several key differences between DPSC and BMMSC and support the possibility of using DPSC for mineralized tissue regeneration.

Dental pulp is a promising source of mesenchymal stem cells with the potential for cell-mediated therapies and tissue engineering applications. We recently reported that isolation of dental pulp-derived stem cells (DPSC) is feasible for at least 120 hours after tooth extraction, and that cryopreservation of early-passage cultured DPSC leads to high-efficiency recovery post thaw. This study investigated additional processing and cryobiological characteristics of DPSC, ending with development of procedures for banking. First, we aimed to optimize cryopreservation of established DPSC cultures, with regards to optimizing the cryoprotective agent (CPA), the CPA concentration, the concentration of cells frozen, and storage temperatures. Secondly, we focused on determining cryopreservation characteristics of enzymatically digested tissue as a cell suspension. Lastly, we evaluated the growth, surface markers and differentiation properties of DPSC obtained from intact teeth and undigested, whole dental tissue frozen and thawed using the optimized procedures. In these experiments it was determined that Me2SO at a concentration between 1 and 1.5M was the ideal cryopreservative of the three studied. It was also determined that DPSC viability after cryopreservation is not limited by the concentration of cells frozen, at least up to 2 × 106 cells/mL. It was further established that DPSC can be stored at −85°C or −196°C for at least six months without loss of functionality. The optimal results with the least manipulation were achieved by isolating and cryopreserving the tooth pulp tissues, with digestion and culture performed post-thaw. A recovery of cells from >85% of the tissues frozen was achieved and cells isolated post thaw from tissue processed and frozen with a serum free, defined cryopreservation medium maintained morphological and developmental competence and demonstrated MSC-hallmark trilineage differentiation under the appropriate culture conditions.

We reported that p62 (sequestosome 1) serves as a signaling hub in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) for the formation of signaling complexes, including NFκB, p38MAPK, and JNK, that are involved in the increased osteoclastogenesis and multiple myeloma (MM) cell growth induced by BMSC that are key contributors to myeloma bone disease (MMBD), and demonstrated that the ZZ-domain of p62 (p62-ZZ) is required for BMSC enhancement of MMBD. We recently identified a novel p62-ZZ inhibitor, XRK3F2, that inhibits MM cell growth and BMSC growth enhancement of human MM cells. In the current study we evaluate the relative specificity of XRK3F2 for p62-ZZ, characterize XRK3F2’s capacity to inhibit growth of primary MM cells and human MM cell lines, and test the in vivo effects of XRK3F2 in the immunocompetent 5TGM1 MM model. We found that XRK3F2 induces dramatic cortical bone formation that is restricted to MM containing bones and blocked the effects and upregulation of TNFα, an OBL differentiation inhibitor that is increased in the MM bone marrow microenvironment and utilizes signaling complexes formed on p62-ZZ, in BMSC. Interestingly, XRK3F2 had no effect on non-MM bearing bone. These results demonstrate that targeting p62 in MM models has profound effects on MMBD.