Bladder Smooth Muscle Cells Differentiation from Dental Pulp Stem Cells: Future Potential for Bladder Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are multipotent cells capable of differentiating into multiple cell lines, thus providing an alternative source of cell for tissue engineering. Smooth muscle cell (SMC) regeneration is a crucial step in tissue engineering of the urinary bladder. It is known that DPSCs have the potential to differentiate into a smooth muscle phenotype in vitro with differentiation agents. However, most of these studies are focused on the vascular SMCs. The optimal approaches to induce human DPSCs to differentiate into bladder SMCs are still under investigation. We demonstrate in this study the ability of human DPSCs to differentiate into bladder SMCs in a growth environment containing bladder SMCs-conditioned medium with the addition of the transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1). After 14 days of exposure to this medium, the gene and protein expression of SMC-specific marker (α-SMA, desmin, and calponin) increased over time. In particular, myosin was present in differentiated cells after 11 days of induction, which indicated that the cells differentiated into the mature SMCs. These data suggested that human DPSCs could be used as an alternative and less invasive source of stem cells for smooth muscle regeneration, a technology that has applications for bladder tissue engineering.

IFN-γ regulates human dental pulp stem cells behavior via NF-κB and MAPK signaling

“…The clonal populations of DPSCs were isolated as previously described1949. Briefly, pulp tissue was obtained from third molars (donors aged from 17 to 20 years) at the School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University with the patient’s informed consent and Institutional Review Board (IRB) from the Stomatological Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University approved the research project (permission number IRB-REV-2014-018).…”

Application of Adult and Pluripotent Stem Cells in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Therapy: Methods and Perspectives

“…In 2016, Song et al successfully induced the differentiation of dental pulp-derived stem cells (DPSCs) into bladder SMCs in culture using bladder SMC-derived CM plus TGF-β1 [160]. Thereafter, the authors confirmed the upregulation of SMC-related genes and proteins, namely alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), desmin, and calponin.…”

“…n.a. [160,161] -Cell injection into the bladder (2.0 × 10 6 cells in PBS). -DPSC-derived CM contains high level of FGF-2, VEGF, C-C and C-X-C chemokine families.…”

Stem Cells in Functional Bladder Engineering

“…Many adult stem cell types have been utilized for bladder SMC bioengineering, such as ADSCs [61], UDSCs [62,63,64], endometrium [65], menstrual blood bone marrow-derived stem cells (bMSCs) [66], and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) [67,68]. …”

“…Lastly, in their study Song et al [67] differentiated mesenchymal-like DPSCs arising from their perivascular niche into SMC-like cells in vitro using a combination of condition media for bladder SMCs and TGF-β1. Compared to other MSCs derived from bone marrow, adipose tissue or peripheral blood, DPSCs have a striking advantage due to their availability with least invasive procedures without any ethical concerns.…”