Dental pulp stem cells constitute an attractive source of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells owing to their high proliferation rate and multilineage differentiation potential. Osteogenesis is initiated by osteoblasts, which originate from mesenchymal stem cells. These cells express specific surface antigens that disappear gradually during osteodifferentiation. In parallel, the appearance of characteristic markers, including alkaline phosphatase, collagen type I, osteocalcin and osteopontin characterize the osteoblastic phenotype of dental pulp stem cells. This review will shed the light on the osteogenic differentiation potential of dental pulp stem cells and explore the culture medium components, and markers associated with osteodifferentiation of these cells.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Medical research in regenerative medicine has brought promising perspectives for the use of stem cells in clinical trials. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells capable of multilineage differentiation and available in numerous sources in the human body. Dental pulp constitutes an attractive source of these cells since collecting mesenchymal stem cells from this site is a noninvasive practice that can be performed after a common surgical extraction of supernumerary or wisdom teeth. Thus, tissue sacrifice is very low and several cytotypes can be obtained owing to these cells' multipotency, in addition to the fact that they can be cryopreserved and stored for long periods. Mesenchymal stem cells have high proliferation rates, making them favorable for clinical application. These multipotent cells, present in biological waste, constitute an appropriate resource in the treatment of many neurological diseases. K E Y W O R D S dentistry, DPSCs, neurological diseases, neurons, regenerative medicine 2 | D P SCs Teeth are divided into two distinct anatomical parts, the crown and the root. They are connected to the supporting bone by the periodontal ligament. The crown comprises enamel, dentin, and pulp. During tooth development, ameloblasts generate enamel, and odontoblasts generate dentin. Once the tooth has erupted, enamel formation stops occurring naturally because of the disappearance of ameloblasts from the surface (Mortada et al., 2017). On the other hand, odontoblasts are present inside the pulp facing the dentin's inner surface throughout life. SignificanceThis article reviews basic characteristics of dental pulp stem cells and highlights recent evidence on their potential role in the management of several neurological diseases. J Neuro Res. 2018;96:265-272. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jnr V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 265