Dental Pulp Stem Cells: A Promising Tool for Tissue Regeneration

Stem cells are the “master “ cells of our body that act as building block to regenerate and turn into cells that form tissues, organs and systems in the human body. Several “loci ’’ or “niches” within the adult human body are colonised by a significant number of stem cells. However, access to these potential collection sites often is a limiting point. Growing evidence demonstrates that stem cells are primarily found in niches and that certain tissues contain more stem cells than others. Among these tissues, the dental tissues are considered a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells that are suitable for tissue engineering applications. It is known that these stem cells have the potential to differentiate into several cell types, including odontoblasts, neural progenitors, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. The interaction with biomaterials is a further point that needs to be considered for the therapeutic use of stem cells. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) have been demonstrated to answer all of these issues: access to the collection site of these cells is easy and produces very low morbidity; extraction of stem cells from pulp tissue is highly efficient; they have an extensive differentiation ability; and the demonstrated interactivity with biomaterials makes them ideal for tissue reconstruction. Mesenchymal stem cells were demonstrated in dental tissues, including dental pulp,periodontal ligament, dental papilla, and dental follicle. These stem cells can be isolated and grown under defined tissue culture conditions, and are potential cells for use in tissue engineering, including, dental tissue, nerves and bone regeneration. More recently, another source of stem cell has been successfully generated from human somatic cells into a pluripotent stage, the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), allowing creation of patient and disease-specific stem cells. Collectively, the multipotency, high proliferation rates, and accessibility make the dental stem cell an attractive source of mesenchymal stem cells for tissue regeneration. This review describes about different sources of stem cells eg human embryonic stem cells (ES) cells , somatic or adult stem cells , stem cells of Dental tissue origin and induced pluripotent stem cells and their characteristic and new findings in the field of dental stem cell research and on their potential use in the tissue regeneration.