Dental pulp is an easily accessible and efficient source of MSCs, with different kinetics and differentiation potentialities from MSCs as isolated from the bone marrow. The rapid proliferative capacity together with the immunoregulatory characteristics of DP-MSCs may prompt future studies aimed at using these cells in the treatment or prevention of T-cell alloreactivity in hematopoietic or solid organ allogeneic transplantation.

Extracellular vesicles act as shuttle vectors or signal transducers that can deliver specific biological information and have progressively emerged as key regulators of organized communities of cells within multicellular organisms in health and disease. Here, we survey the evolutionary origin, general characteristics, and biological significance of extracellular vesicles as mediators of intercellular signaling, discuss the various subtypes of extracellular vesicles thus far described and the principal methodological approaches to their study, and review the role of extracellular vesicles in tumorigenesis, immunity, non-synaptic neural communication, vascular-neural communication through the blood-brain barrier, renal pathophysiology, and embryo-fetal/maternal communication through the placenta.

Regulatory T Cells (Tregs) are a T-lymphocyte subset involved in the maintenance of immune peripheral tolerance. Despite evidence of the adaptive immune system’s role in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), the involvement of Tregs is still not clear. We focused on the Flow-Cytometry analysis of the Treg frequencies and phenotypes in the AD. The aim of the study is to analyse similarities and differences in Tregs profile between Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Regulatory T Cells (CD4+/CD25high/CD127low-neg) were identified using an innovative Flow Cytometry method and subtyped as Resting (analysed CD45RApos/CD25dim), Activated (CD45RAneg/CD25bright) and Secreting (CD45RAneg/CD25dim) cells. Our data demonstrate a significant decrease in the total and Resting Tregs in AD patients when compared to healthy subjects. The percentage of the results of the Resting Tregs were also reduced in MS patients together with a parallel frequency increase of Activated Tregs. Our data suggest that altered Treg phenotypes observed in both diseases could play a role in the impairment of the Treg-mediated immunological tolerance, recalling a possible link between the two pathologies. Given that this study was conducted on a restricted population, if confirmed by a further and enlarged study, the implications of the autoimmune mechanisms in AD pathophysiology could open new immunotherapeutic perspectives based on Treg modulation.

BackgroundMany adult tissues contain a population of stem cells with the ability to regenerate structures similar to the microenvironments from which they are derived in vivo and represent a promising therapy for the regeneration of complex tissues in the clinical disorder. Human adult stem cells (SCs) including bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) have been characterized for their high proliferative potential, expression of characteristic SC-associated markers and for the plasticity to differentiate in different lineage in vitro.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe aim of this study is to define the molecular features of stem cells from oral tissue by comparing the proteomic profiles obtained with 2-DE followed by MALDI-TOF/TOF of ex-vivo cultured human PDLSCs, DPSCs and BMSCs. Our results showed qualitative similarities in the proteome profiles among the SCs examined including some significant quantitative differences. To enrich the knowledge of oral SCs proteome we performed an analysis in narrow range pH 4–7 and 6–9, and we found that DPSCs vs PDLSCs express differentially regulated proteins that are potentially related to growth, regulation and genesis of neuronal cells, suggesting that SCs derived from oral tissue source populations may possess the potential ability of neuronal differentiation which is very consistent with their neural crest origin.Conclusion/SignificanceThis study identifies some differentially expressed proteins by using comparative analysis between DPSCs and PDLSCs and BMSCs and suggests that stem cells from oral tissue could have a different cell lineage potency compared to BMSCs.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released by shedding during different physiological processes and are increasingly thought to be new potential biomarkers. However, the impact of pre-analytical processing phases on the final measurement is not predictable and for this reason, the translation of basic research into clinical practice has been precluded. Here we have optimized a simple procedure in combination with polychromatic flow cytometry (PFC), to identify, classify, enumerate, and separate circulating EVs from different cell origins. This protocol takes advantage of a lipophilic cationic dye (LCD) able to probe EVs. Moreover, the application of the newly optimized PFC protocol here described allowed the obtainment of repeatable EVs counts. The translation of this PFC protocol to fluorescence-activated cell sorting allowed us to separate EVs from fresh peripheral blood samples. Sorted EVs preparations resulted particularly suitable for proteomic analyses, which we applied to study their protein cargo. Here we show that LCD staining allowed PFC detection and sorting of EVs from fresh body fluids, avoiding pre-analytical steps of enrichment that could impact final results. Therefore, LCD staining is an essential step towards the assessment of EVs clinical significance.