Craniofacial Tissue Engineering by Stem Cells

Abstract

Craniofacial tissue engineering promises the regeneration or de novo formation of dental, oral, and craniofacial structures lost to congenital anomalies, trauma, and diseases. Virtually all craniofacial structures are derivatives of mesenchymal cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are the offspring of mesenchymal cells following asymmetrical division, and reside in various craniofacial structures in the adult. Cells with characteristics of adult stem cells have been isolated from the dental pulp, the deciduous tooth, and the periodontium. Several craniofacial structures-such as the mandibular condyle, calvarial bone, cranial suture, and subcutaneous adipose tissue-have been engineered from mesenchymal stem cells, growth factor, and/or gene therapy approaches. As a departure from the reliance of current clinical practice on durable materials such as amalgam, composites, and metallic alloys, biological therapies utilize mesenchymal stem cells, delivered or internally recruited, to generate craniofacial structures in temporary scaffolding biomaterials. Craniofacial tissue engineering is likely to be realized in the foreseeable future, and represents an opportunity that dentistry cannot afford to miss.

Cartilage and facial muscle tissue engineering and regeneration: a mini review

“…Craniofacial muscle tissue engineering is essential to the human body's ability to facilitate movement and internally transport materials in response B Lobat Tayebi lobat.tayebi@marquette.edu 1 sequently morph into virtually all craniofacial structures such as cartilage, bone, ligaments, cranial sutures, musculature, tendons, the periodontium, and the teeth [7]. Mesenchymal stem cells are also self-renewable, making them very preferable for this purpose as well.…”

“…Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth and periodontal ligament stem cells can also be used in order to create nearly identical forms of their naturally formed structures [9]. Tissue engineering of the temporomandibular joint from stem cells is also possible [1,7,[10][11][12][13] as a result and takes place in a similar manner to that of the aforementioned tissues and muscles, with more of an emphasis on cell density in order for the tissues to be properly formed. Another important aspect of craniofacial muscle tissue engineering is gene delivery, which is possible through periodontal tissue engineering, having a primary focus on gene transfer and its main benefits such as stimulation of the tissue engineering of periodontal defects.…”

“…Focus on the calvarial osteoblast, similar to the focus on the neural crest in order to form multifunctional mesenchymal cells, is necessary in order to generate natural cranial skeletal repair and the specific molecular structures needed to achieve this cranial skeletal formation [4]. Craniofacial tissue engineering is not yet used in contemporary, non-cell-based dental practice therapies, making it an opportunity that will greatly benefit dentistry [7].…”

“…Although craniofacial tissue engineering practices are not yet used in contemporary dentistry, a form of muscle tissue engineering that has a more readily accessible application to dental practices is maxillofacial tissue engineering [7]. This is due to the fact that there are great similarities between the skin and oral mucosa, allowing the structure of already existing skin substitute products to be used as templates for oral mucosa applications [14].…”

Osteoblasts can induce dental pulp stem cells to undergo osteogenic differentiation

“…It has long been known that virtually all craniofacial structures are derivatives of mesenchymal cells originating from the neural crest (Mao et al 2006). Because DPSCs originate from the neural crest, at present many researchers have the view that dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are a promising and versatile tool for bone tissue regeneration and have been used for therapeutic stem cell applications Zheng et al 2009;Gandia et al 2008).…”