Different types of dental stem cells, and their application in tissue engineering

The field of tissue engineering is emerging as a multidisciplinary area with promising potential for regenerating new tissues and organs. This approach requires the involvement of three essential components: stem cells, scaffolds and growth factors. The oral cavity has proven to be an important reservoir of stem cells with the advantage of being a non-invasive source.Dental SCs have drawn attention in recent years because of their accessibility, plasticity, and high proliferative ability. Currently, there are five main DSCs, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), stem cells from exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP), periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) and dental follicle precursor cells (DFPCs).Considering their original function in development and the homeostasis of tooth structures, many applications of these cells in dentistry have aimed at tooth structure regeneration; however, the application in other than tooth structures has been attempted extensively. They are widely applied in both regenerative dentistry and medicine. DPSCs, SHED, and SCAP are able to form dentin–pulp complex when being transplanted into immunodeficient animals. They have been experimentally used for the regeneration of dental pulp, neuron, bone muscle and blood vessels in animal models and have shown promising results. PDLSCs and GMSCs are demonstrated to be ideal cell sources for repairing the damaged tissues of periodontal, muscle, and tendon. Sothese new insights of the apparently regenerative aptitude of these DSCs seems quite promising to investigate these cells abilities in a wide variety of pathologies. The aim of this review, is to introduce dental stem cells and giving an overview of papers that have described use of dental stem cells in different areas of tissue engineering.

کلیدواژه ها:

Dental stem cell ، Regenerative dentistry ، Tissue engineering ، Regenerative medicine