Neural Crest Lineage Segregation: a Blueprint for Periodontal Regeneration

Abstract

During the recent decade, the periodontal attachment apparatus has turned into one of the premier areas of the body for the development of novel tissue engineering strategies. In the present review we are using a developmental biology approach to characterize current concepts in periodontal regeneration and to discuss strategies for future applications in periodontal therapies. In order to decipher the developmental make-up of the periodontal region, we have followed the path of the migratory neural crest as it gives rise to periodontal progenitor tissues, which in turn are subjected to the influence of diverse craniofacial extracellular matrices and peptide growth factors. Based on this developmental perspective, we have conducted a systematic analysis of the factors, progenitor cells, and matrices used in current periodontal tissue engineering approaches. We propose that the developmental history of a tissue is a highly instructive design template for the discovery of novel bioengineering tools and approaches.

Successful Periodontal Ligament Regeneration by Periodontal Progenitor Preseeding on Natural Tooth Root Surfaces

“…A thorough system biological analysis of all 4 periodontal progenitors, including alveolar bone osteoblasts, cementoblasts, PDL cells, and DF cells, revealed substantial differences between all 4, with greatest differences between DF progenitors and cementoblasts [21]. Our present findings indicate that PDL progenitors are significantly different from DP and DF cells in terms of gene expression, differentiation potential, and especially in their ability to assume elongated cell shapes on structured surfaces, supporting previous findings from our group that indicate substantial differences between periodontal progenitor populations [16,[21][22][23]. Together, these studies indicate that the progenitor lineage derived from the target tissue may be the most suitable progenitor population for many tissue engineering applications.…”

“…Although a number of groups have attempted to promote reattachment of teeth [35,36], regeneration of a fibrous PDL has been rarely accomplished. The ability of periodontal progenitors in conjunction with natural root surface topographies to form true periodontal tissues is likely a result of a stepwise predifferentiation of periodontal progenitors beyond the less-differentiated state of intermediary pluripotent progenitors such as the DF [22] in concert with the instructive capacities of the natural tooth root surface [34].…”

Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Periodontal Regeneration

“…There are a number of possible explanations for these observations. Firstly, the cells may have inherently different properties, such as differentiation potentials, and this may be because of their embryological (neural crest) origins [35][36][37][38]. Interestingly, however, in a study using GFP-labeled BMSCs for lineage tracing, Zhou and colleagues reported that BMSCs contribute to the total MSC population within the PDL and can differentiate into dental-specific tissues, suggesting regulation by local environmental conditions.…”

Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells

“…Bovine derived bone substitute scaffolds mixed with fibrin were shown to represent high biological affinity and support for the growth, migration and differentiation of PDL stem cells (Trubiani et al, 2008). Collagen scaffolds were shown to stimulate PDL stem/progenitor cells to attach, proliferate, exhibit a PDL spindle-like morphology and subsequently form PDL-like tissue (Luan et al, 2009). BMP-2 stimulation was shown to induce mineralized nodule formation of multipotent PDL cells, while bFGF stimulation elicited capillary-like structure formations (Shirai et al, 2009).…”