We provide a detailed characteristic of stem cells isolated and expanded from the human dental pulp. Dental pulp stem cells express mesenchymal cell markers STRO-1, vimentin, CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD166, and stem cell markers Sox2, nestin, and nucleostemin. They are multipotent as shown by their osteogenic and chondrogenic potential. We measured relative telomere length in 11 dental pulp stem...

Odontogenesis is accomplished by reciprocal signaling between the epithelial and mesenchymal compartments. It is generally accepted that the inductive mesenchyme is capable of inducing the odontogenic commitment of both dental and non-dental epithelial cells. However, the duration of this signal in the developing dental mesenchyme and whether adult dental pulp tissue maintains its inductive cap...

Biocompatibility of dentin bonding agents (DBA) and composite resin may affect the treatment outcome (e.g., healthy pulp, pulpal inflammation, pulp necrosis) after operative restoration. Bisphenol-glycidyl methacrylate (BisGMA) is one of the major monomers present in DBA and resin. Prior studies focused on salivary esterase for metabolism and degradation of resin monomers clinically. This study...

Dental preparation sometimes causes transient congestion, edema, and necrosis of the pulp. We hypothesized that nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the pathophysiological changes in pulp after preparation. The mRNA and protein expression of the inducible isoform of NO synthase (iNOS) was examined in murine pulp after dental preparation. The effects of NO on the proliferation, mineralization, and a...

Introduction: The nerve fibers in central nervous system are surrounded by myelin sheet  which is formed by oligodendrocytes. Cell therapy based on oligodendrocytes and their precursors transplantation can hold a promising alternative treatment for myelin sheet repair in demyelinating diseases. Methods: Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells (hDPSCs) are noninvasive, autologous and easy available s...

L-type voltage-dependent CaV1.2 channels play an important role in the maintenance of intracellular calcium homeostasis, and influence multiple cellular processes. C-terminal cleavage of CaV1.2 channels was reported in several types of excitable cells, but its expression and possible roles in non-excitable cells is still not clear. The aim of this study was to determine whether distal C-termina...

AIM To investigate the ability of human amniotic fluid stem cells and human dental pulp stem cells to differentiate into insulin-producing cells. METHODS Human amniotic fluid stem cells and human dental pulp stem cells were induced to differentiate into pancreatic β-cells by a multistep protocol. Islet-like structures were assessed in differentiated human amniotic fluid stem cells and human d...

Neural stem cells (NSCs) have a high potency for differentiation to neurons and glial cells for replacement of damaged cells and paracrine effects for the regeneration and remyelination of host axons. Dental pulp is known to have a potential to differentiate into neural-like cells; therefore, dental pulp may be used as an autologous cell source for neural repair. In this study, we selectively e...

We characterized a voltage-dependent ionic current in dental pulp cells on dental pulp slices using a nystatin perforated-patch recording configuration. The outward currents in dental pulp cells were inhibited by the following channel blockers: 1) Ca(2+)-free extracellular solution containing 10 mM Ba2+, 2) extracellular 400 nM apamin and 3) extracellular 300 nM 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,...

Endodontic regeneration shows promise in treating dental pulp diseases; however, no suitable scaffolds exist for pulp regeneration. Acellular natural extracellular matrix (ECM) is a favorable scaffold for tissue regeneration since the anatomical structure and ECM of the natural tissues or organs are well-preserved. Xenogeneic ECM is superior to autologous or allogeneic ECM in tissue engineering...