Dental Pulp Stem Cells: Current Advances in Isolation, Expansion and Preservation

Abstract

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are mesenchymal stem cells with high self-renewal potential that have the ability to differentiate into several cell types. Thus, DPSCs have become a promising source of cells for several applications in regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and stem cell therapy. Numerous methods have been reported for the isolation, expansion, and preservation of DPSCs. However, methods are diverse and do not follow specific rules or parameters, which can affect stem cell properties, adding more variation to experimental results. In this review, we compare and analyze current experimental evidence to propose some factors that can be useful to establish better methods or improved protocols to prolong the quality of DPSCs. In addition, we highlight other factors related to biological aspects of dental tissue source (e.g., age, genetic background) that should be considered before tooth selection. Although current methods have reached significant advances, optimization is still required to improve culture stability and its maintenance for an extended period without losing stem cell properties. In addition, there is still much that needs to be done toward clinical application due to the fact that most of DPSCs procedures are not currently following good manufacturing practices. The establishment of optimized general or tailored protocols will allow obtaining well-defined DPSCs cultures with specific properties, which enable more reproducible results that will be the basis to develop effective and safe therapies.

Establishment and neural differentiation of neural crest-derived stem cells from human dental pulp in serum-free conditions

“…Rodas-Junco et al 3 ), which is inappropriate for most applications in man. Hence, there is a need for protocols to establish cell cultures in conditions that would be more appropriate for advancing their translational use.…”

Human Supernumerary Teeth-Derived Apical Papillary Stem Cells Possess Preferable Characteristics and Efficacy on Hepatic Fibrosis in Mice

“…Interestingly, the dental tissue-derived cells share similarities in gene expression profile and multilineage differentiation capability to MSCs [13]. In the year of 2000, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were firstly separated from permanent third molar teeth of different sections followed by other sections of oral parts including dental pulp, periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, gingiva, and dental follicle [11,13,14]. Recently, isolation and characterization of DPSCs from a "discarded" supernumerary tooth were primarily achieved by Huang and his colleagues [15].…”

Discrimination of Dental Pulp Stem Cell Regenerative Heterogeneity by Single-Cell Raman Spectroscopy

“…7,11 Therefore, in order to fully exploit these desirable DPSCs for regenerative purposes, it is imperative that strategies are developed which permit the optimisation of population selection through the selectively screening and isolation of superior quality DPSCs from dental pulp tissues for in vitro expansion, assessment and prudent cell banking; thereby aiding the translational development of more effective DPSC-based therapies for clinical evaluation and application. [12][13][14] However, conventional ex vivo cellular expansion and stem cell/senescence characterisation techniques used to identify superior DPSCs are often expensive, labour-intensive and time-consuming; whilst cellular expansion can also detrimentally alter stem cell characteristics leading to reduced regenerative properties. 11,15 Such issues may be confounded by the requirement for invasive fixation, staining or cell permeabilisation techniques, which damage cellular components during MSC characteristation.…”