Dental pulp stem cells express tendon markers under mechanical loading and are a potential cell source for tissue engineering of tendon-like tissue

Abstract

Research shows that stem cells isolated from adult teeth can develop into tendon tissue and could be used for tendon repair. Tendon injuries are difficult to treat and require long healing periods and/or surgery. Adult stem cells have the potential to improve tissue repair, and they assessed whether stem cells from the teeth could be used. They isolated dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) from the permanent teeth and showed that they express some tendon-related proteins. When they grew DPSCs on polyglycolic acid scaffolds under mechanical stress on nude mice back, the cells formed tendon tissue that expressed all the crucial tendon-related proteins. The findings show that DPSCs have potential for engineering of tendon-like tissues.

Keywords

dental pulp stem cells / in vivo model / mechanical loading / tendon engineering

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