Dental Stem Cells in Bone Tissue Engineering: Current Overview and Challenges

Abstract

The treatment of bone that is impaired due to disease, trauma or tumor resection creates a challenge for both clinicians and researchers. Critical size bone defects are conventionally treated with autografts which are associated with risks such as donor site morbidity and limitations like donor shortage. Bone tissue engineering has become a promising area for the management of critical size bone defects by the employment of biocompatible materials and the discovery of novel stem cell sources. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be isolated with ease from various dental tissues including dental pulp stem cells, stem cells from apical papilla, dental follicle stem cells, stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth, periodontal ligament stem cells, gingival stem cells and tooth germ derived stem cells. Outcomes of dental MSC mediated bone tissue engineering is explored in various in vivo and in vitro preclinical studies. However, there are still obscurities regarding the mechanisms underlying in MSC mediated bone regeneration and challenges in applications of dental stem cells. In this review, we summarized dental stem cell sources and their characterizations, along with currently used biomaterials for cell delivery and future perspectives for dental MSCs in the field of bone tissue engineering. Further efforts are necessary before moving to clinical trials for future applications.

Characterization and Comparison of Human and Ovine Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Three Corresponding Sources

“…MSCs play a key role in processes important for health and disease [25]. Considering their role in multiple tissues and organs, advanced studies are dedicated to deciphering the basic biology and potential clinical applications of MSCs [26][27][28][29][30]. Some advantages to MSC manipulation are ease of harvest, minimal ethical concern, and that they do not tend to form tumors.…”

Challenges in Clinical Development of Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells: Concise Review

“…Teeth‐derived MSCs could represent an alternative source of autologous cells after the extraction of a compromised tooth, considering the impact of the related condition. In the case of inflamed periodontal ligaments of periodontally compromised teeth, MSCs show an increased proliferation capacity and migration potential; however, they are characterized by a decreased capacity for osteogenic differentiation . Similarly, inflamed dental pulp causes a decreased PD in DPSC, so inflammation may affect the total number of cell divisions .…”

“…In the case of inflamed periodontal ligaments of periodontally compromised © 2019 The Authors. STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of AlphaMed Press STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE teeth, MSCs show an increased proliferation capacity and migration potential; however, they are characterized by a decreased capacity for osteogenic differentiation [80]. Similarly, inflamed dental pulp causes a decreased PD in DPSC, so inflammation may affect the total number of cell divisions [124].…”

NFIC promotes the vitality and osteogenic differentiation of rat dental follicle cells

“…To investigate the role of NFIC in osteoblastic differentiation of DFCs, we assessed the osteogenesis capacity of DFCs after NFIC activation. Col I, ALP and Runx2 are frequently selected as specific markers to detect the osteogenic or cementogenic potential of dental MSCs (Park et al 2012;Lee et al 2012;Ercal et al 2018). ALP activity is increased in the early stages of osteoblast commitment.…”