Dental stem cells: The role of biomaterials and scaffolds in developing novel therapeutic strategies

Abstract

Dental stem cells (DSCs) are self-renewable cells that can be obtained easily from dental tissues, and are a desirable source of autologous stem cells. The use of DSCs for stem cell transplantation therapeutic approaches is attractive due to their simple isolation, high plasticity, immunomodulatory properties, and multipotential abilities. Using appropriate scaffolds loaded with favorable biomolecules, such as growth factors, and cytokines, can improve the proliferation, differentiation, migration, and functional capacity of DSCs and can optimize the cellular morphology to build tissue constructs for specific purposes. An enormous variety of scaffolds have been used for tissue engineering with DSCs. Of these, the scaffolds that particularly mimic tissue-specific micromilieu and loaded with biomolecules favorably regulate angiogenesis, cell-matrix interactions, degradation of extracellular matrix, organized matrix formation, and the mineralization abilities of DSCs in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. DSCs represent a promising cell source for tissue engineering, especially for tooth, bone, and neural tissue restoration. The purpose of the present review is to summarize the current developments in the major scaffolding approaches as crucial guidelines for tissue engineering using DSCs and compare their effects in tissue and organ regeneration.

Improvement of Rat Spinal Cord Injury Following Lentiviral Vector-Transduced Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells Derived from Human Epileptic Brain Tissue Transplantation with a Self-assembling Peptide Scaffold

“…Increased survival and migration of engrafted hNS/PCs in PM could be due to significantly improved biocompatibility and integration with the host tissue, which promotes the regeneration of damaged spinal cord tissue [24,39]. Hydrogel scaffolds play a shielding role against the host immune system and exhibit anti-gliosis and anti-inflammatory properties when fused with host tissue [42][43][44].…”

Dental Pulp Stem Cell-Derived Secretome and Its Regenerative Potential

“…Although stem cells are widely used in regenerative medicine, most of the preclinical and clinical studies demonstrated a poor functional integration into the host tissue, so several 3D scaffold-based cultures have been developed [ 9 , 12 , 28 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 165 ]. Stem cell 3D cultures are not without limitations; however, they enhance cell growth, differentiation, migration and improve cellular communications [ 21 , 166 ]. According to some authors, complete damage tissue regeneration might be achieved by using an appropriate scaffold, or associated with favorable biomolecules, such as growth factors, cytokines and combined with dental-MSCs [ 9 , 21 , 166 ].…”

“…Stem cell 3D cultures are not without limitations; however, they enhance cell growth, differentiation, migration and improve cellular communications [ 21 , 166 ]. According to some authors, complete damage tissue regeneration might be achieved by using an appropriate scaffold, or associated with favorable biomolecules, such as growth factors, cytokines and combined with dental-MSCs [ 9 , 21 , 166 ]. Two main approaches for this combination are cell-based and cell-free tissue engineering.…”

Oral Bone Tissue Regeneration: Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Secretome, and Biomaterials

“…In this context, the main purpose of regenerative medicine is to overcome the limit of the low regenerative power of tissues, creating strategies to restore their functionality and architecture. Tissue engineering denotes a novel approach to regenerative medicine in order to develop tissue-like complexes that mimic the role and structural organization of tissues in order to repair injuries, anatomical defects, and restore the functions of the damaged areas using biomaterials and stem cells [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Specifically, the differentiation capacity and the paracrine effects of stem cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are useful for tissue regeneration, and their application seems promising in different fields of regenerative medicine, including bone regeneration [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”