Neural Differentiation Potential of Stem Cells Derived from Dental Follicle and Periodontal Ligament stem cells

Abstract

Background: Repair of neural damages is one of important and complex treatment in medicine and dentistry. On one side possession of adult stem cells from bone marrow considering limitedsource of these cells, is restricted. Finding reachablesource ofstem cells with high differentiating potential is important. These sources include PDL and dental follicle. The goalof this research is to compare potentialof neurogenic differentiation of stem cells derived from periodontal ligament (PDLSCs) and stem cells derived from dental follicle (DFSCs) of impacted third molar. Methods and Materials:in this experimental study, 3 samples of PDL and 3 samples of impacted 3rd molar follicle were used to isolatestem cells. Cultivation of digested tissue pieces was used. Differentiation to osteoblast and adipocyte was used to prove the existence of stem cells. Also to prove the mesenchymal origin of stem cells, expression of mesenchymal cell surface markers CD44, CD73, CD90,CD105 and hematopoietic cell surface markers CD34 and CD45 were examined with flow cytometry. At the end, neural differentiation of cells cultured in standard neural inductive medium containing retinoic acid was investigated by expression of MAP2 and b-Tubulin genes and their protein products byRT-PCR and Western blot technique. Results:Stem cells were successfully isolated from dentalfollicle and PDL tissues. All cells were successfully differentiated to adipocyte and osteoblast after passing of 14 days in adipogenic and osteoblastic inductive mediums. Flowcytometryrevealed that these cells are positive for CD44, CD73, CD90, and CD105 and negative for CD34 and CD45 and also expression of MAP2 and b-Tubulin were confirmed by RT-PCR and western blot tests.Conclusion:Results showed that more neurogenic differentiating potential was detected in derived stem cell from PDL in compared to tooth follicle cells. This study demonstrated that dental follicle and PDL can be used in the cellular treatment and tissue engineering in neural damages repair.Key Words: Dental follicle, PDL, Stem Cell, Neural Differentiation, Nerve Tissue Engineering