Project description:Stem cell-based therapy is an alternative strategy for brain repair. Various cell types have been investigated and dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) have been identified as promising candidates. These multipotent stem cells are found in the dental pulp tissue of molar teeth. They are clinically easily obtained, have a high proliferative rate, and possess neurogenic potential due to their mesoectodermal origin. Here, overexpression of octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) in combination with neural conditions was used to reprogram human DPSC along the neural lineage. Transcriptomic analysis of differentially-expressed genes highlighted the expression of genes associated with neural and neuronal functions in the OCT4-overexpressing DPSC following neural induction.
Project description:HGF-CM increases the proliferation and migration ability of DPSC (Dental pulp stem cells) in a dosage dependent manner, and facilitates the mineralization of DPSC by upregulating odotogenic genes. Although lack of in vitro evidence, DPSC and hGF-CM could be a promising combination for pulp regeneration in the future.
Project description:A major challenge to the study and treatment of neurogenetic syndromes is the difficulty in gaining access to live neurons from individuals with these disorders. Although other sources of stem cells are currently available for differentiation into neurons, these can involve invasive procedures and be difficult or expensive to generate limiting their use on a broad scale, especially for rare syndromes which may not be well represented in the local population. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) are neural crest derived multipotent stem cells that reside deep the pulp of shed (baby) teeth and have the potential for broad use in the study of neurogenetic disease. In order to investigate the characteristics of DPSC which make them a valuable resource for the study of neurogenetic syndromes we performed a set of viability, senescence and immortalization studies on control DPSC and DPSC derived neurons. We investigated the basic transport conditions and determined the maximum passage number for primary DPSCs. We then immortalized control DPSC using human telomerase reverse trancriptase (hTERT) and evaluated both neuronal differentiation potential and gene expression changes using RNAseq. Here we show that immortalized DPSC share morphological and electrophysiological properties with non-immortalized DPSC. We also show that differentiation of DPSC into neurons changes gene expression for 1305 transcripts, while immortalized neurons differ significantly in gene expression for 183 transcripts of which 94 also changed during differentiation. Taken together, these studies indicate that immortalized dental pulp derived neruons may be a new and powerful resource for the study of rare neurological disorders where patient samples are rare or difficult to obtain. RNA-seq Analysis of 3 neurotypical control DPSC, 3 DPSC derived neurons and 3 each immortalized versions of DPSC and DPSC neurons (~3 weeks post maturation)
Project description:Neoplastic transformation of DPSC cultured under Hypoxia versus normoxia. Molecular characterization of cell markers associated with tumorigenicity. DPSC array CGH profiles of experimental (HX48h and HX72h) and reference (NX48 and NX72h) genomic DNA samples
Project description:To evaluate the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles (miRNOME) we identified miRNAs during in vitro osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSC). The DPSCs were cultured in the DMEM + beta-glycerol phosphate, ascorbic acid and dexamethasone for 2 dias to 21days. The microRNA or mRNA expression profiling during the differentiation process was analyzed through hybridizations with Agilent miRNA-microarray (8x15K format).
Project description:A major challenge to the study and treatment of neurogenetic syndromes is the difficulty in gaining access to live neurons from individuals with these disorders. Although other sources of stem cells are currently available for differentiation into neurons, these can involve invasive procedures and be difficult or expensive to generate limiting their use on a broad scale, especially for rare syndromes which may not be well represented in the local population. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) are neural crest derived multipotent stem cells that reside deep the pulp of shed (baby) teeth and have the potential for broad use in the study of neurogenetic disease. In order to investigate the characteristics of DPSC which make them a valuable resource for the study of neurogenetic syndromes we performed a set of viability, senescence and immortalization studies on control DPSC and DPSC derived neurons. We investigated the basic transport conditions and determined the maximum passage number for primary DPSCs. We then immortalized control DPSC using human telomerase reverse trancriptase (hTERT) and evaluated both neuronal differentiation potential and gene expression changes using RNAseq. Here we show that immortalized DPSC share morphological and electrophysiological properties with non-immortalized DPSC. We also show that differentiation of DPSC into neurons changes gene expression for 1305 transcripts, while immortalized neurons differ significantly in gene expression for 183 transcripts of which 94 also changed during differentiation. Taken together, these studies indicate that immortalized dental pulp derived neruons may be a new and powerful resource for the study of rare neurological disorders where patient samples are rare or difficult to obtain.
Project description:Neoplastic transformation of DPSC cultured under Hypoxia versus normoxia. Molecular characterization of cell markers associated with tumorigenicity.
Project description:To evaluate the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles (miRNOME and transcriptome) we reconstructed networks identifying miRNAs and mRNA during in vitro osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSC). The DPSCs were cultured in the DMEM + beta-glycerol phosphate, ascorbic acid and dexamethasone for 2 to 21 days. The microRNA or mRNA expression profiling during the differentiation process was analyzed through hybridizations with Agilent miRNA-microarray (8x15K format) or whole-human genome Agilent microarray (4x44K format).
Project description:This study focuses on the impact of ECM (extra-cellular matrix) over cell processes such as proliferation, differentiation or mineralization which is more specifically related to our dental pulp cells. We cultured these dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) in mineralization growth or normal growth conditions. After 21 days, cells were incubated in decellularized solution until no intact cells are seen. After ECM was washed, we studied the mineralization associated to these two different ECM. Matrisome proteins were identified through proteomics. DPSC matrisome is composed of 225 individual different proteins. We classified them according to different categories, the 3 core matrisome categories: glycoproteins, collagens, proteoglycans and the 3 matrisome associated proteins categories: the regulators, affiliated and secreted. When comparing the proteins in the N-ECM and OM-ECM, most of the core matrisome proteins are downregulated in OM conditions, except 3 glycoproteins, as well as regulators and secreted factors. However, annexins were found to be upregulated in OM condition. Cell adhesion, tensile strength and growth factor binding are over-represented in NM ECM. The collagen group and glycoproteins were higher in N-ECM than OM-ECM Thereafter, gingival stem cells (GSC), the less inherit osteogenic potency cells, were seeded on these N-ECM and OM-ECM. When GSCs were seeded on DPSC-derived ECM, the OM-ECM dramatically promoted mineral deposition compared with N-ECM. We hypothesize that annexins could participate in the osteogenic inductive properties. ECM plays a pivotal role in many physiological processes, it regulates cells behavior and can orient cell differentiation. Dental pulp and oral mucosa share embryological origins but differ in their reactions to insults. Dental pulp can mineralize while oral mucosa heals ad integrum. We hypothesize that ECM participate in these characteristics.
Project description:Dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) constitute a neural crest-derived stem cell population endowed with multipotency and self-renewal. While the process of DPSC differentiation has been studied extensively in vitro, very little is known about mechanisms underpinning the differentiation of human DPSC in vivo. Here, we induced vasculogenic, odontoblastic, or neurogenic differentiation of human DPSC for 7 days in vitro and performed single cell sequencing. Then, human DPSC tagged with GFP (DPSC-GFP) seeded in human tooth slice/scaffolds were transplanted into immunodeficient mice. Single cell sequencing of DPSC-GFP sorted by flow cytometry was performed 7 and 21 days after transplantation. We observed major shifts in patterns of gene expression when DPSC were induced to undergo vasculogenic, odontoblastic, or neurogenic differentiation in vitro. Although some DPSC retained mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) markers (indicating asymmetric cell division and self-renewal), each differentiation protocol resulted in a unique gene expression signature in vitro. In vivo, stem cell markers that were highly expressed in DPSC pre-transplantation gradually decreased in expression after 7 and 21 days. In contrast, vascular endothelial cell markers were highly expressed 7 days after transplantation, while neuronal markers were highly expressed 21 days after transplantation. In conclusion, DPSC cells are heterogeneous with clearly distinct cell clusters, all of which contain cells with unique differentiation potential. Notably, the microenvironment created when human DPSC are transplanted inside a human root canal in vivo induces vasculogenic differentiation first, which is then followed by neurogenic differentiation.