Stem cell-based mediated therapies represent very promising approaches for tissue regeneration and are already applied with success in clinics. These therapeutic approaches consist of the in vitro manipulation of stem cells and their consequent administration to patients as living and dynamic biological agents. Nevertheless, the deregulation of stem cells function might result in the generation of pathologies such as tumours or accelerated senescence. Moreover, different stem cells sources are needed for regeneration of specific tissues. It is thus fundamental to understand the mechanisms regulating the physiology of stem cells. Microfluidic technology can be used to mimic in vivo scenarios and allow the study of stem cell physiology at both single cell and whole stem cell niche levels. This review focuses on the potential sources of stem and progenitor cells for orofacial regeneration and the use of microfluidic technologies for the study of stem cells behaviour and stem cell niches, in the light of regenerative medicine.
Keywords:Microfluidics, stem cells, stem cell niches, orofacial regeneration, tooth, innervation, trigeminal ganglia, regenerative medicine.
IntroductionThe development of organs and tissues that belong to the orofacial complex proceeds through a series of inductive interactions between cells originated from the epithelium, mesoderm and cranial neural crest-derived mesenchyme (Mao et al., 2012;Mitsiadis and Graf, 2009;Mitsiadis and Papagerakis, 2011). Orofacial organs are highly diverse and exert fundamental and specific functions such as breathing, chewing, speech, smell, and sight (Mao et al., 2012). The physiological functions of these organs are compromised by traumatic injuries, congenital and infectious diseases, and cancer (Mao et al., 2012;Scheller et al., 2009). Furthermore, these pathologies are often accompanied by intensive pain and aesthetic deformities. Therefore, the treatment of compromised pathological orofacial tissues and organs should guarantee restoration of both functionality and aesthetics, which constitutes an enormous clinical challenge. Moreover, organ structure, function, aesthetics, and pain should be managed simultaneously during the regenerative care, a situation that is more complex than in other compartments of the body (Scheller et al., 2009).Biological regeneration is proving an increasingly attractive alternative and complement to traditional surgical techniques for prosthetic replacement of tissues and organs. Cell-based therapeutic approaches are already applied with success in clinics and consist of in vitro manipulation of stem cells and their consequent administration to patients as living and dynamic biological agents. Stem cells are characterised by their potential to self-replicate and their capacity to differentiate into a vast variety of cell types that form the diverse tissues. Therefore, stem cells guarantee tissue repair and regeneration throughout life. During the last decades, a plethora of adult stem cell populations have been isolate...