Abstract
BackgroundHuman mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp (hMSC-DP), including dental pulp stem cells from permanent teeth and exfoliated deciduous teeth, possess unique MSC characteristics such as expression of specific surface molecules and a high proliferation rate. Since hMSC-DP have been applied in numerous clinical studies, it is necessary to establish criteria to evaluate their potency for cell-based therapies.MethodsWe compared stem cell properties of hMSC-DP at passages 5, 10 and 20 under serum (SE) and serum-free (SF) culture conditions. Cell morphology, proliferation capacity, chromosomal stability, surface phenotypic profiles, differentiation and immunoregulation ability were evaluated. In addition, we assessed surface molecule that regulates hMSC-DP proliferation and immunomodulation.ResultshMSC-DP exhibited a decrease in proliferation rate and differentiation potential, as well as a reduced expression of CD146 when cultured under continuous passage conditions. SF culture conditions failed to alter surface marker expression, chromosome stability or proliferation rate when compared to SE culture. SF-cultured hMSC-DP were able to differentiate into osteogenic, adipogenic and neural cells, and displayed the capacity to regulate immune responses. Notably, the expression level of CD146 showed a positive correlation with proliferation, differentiation, and immunomodulation, suggesting that CD146 can serve as a surface molecule to evaluate the potency of hMSC-DP. Mechanistically, we found that CD146 regulates proliferation and immunomodulation of hMSC-DP through the ERK/p-ERK pathway.ConclusionThis study indicates that SF-cultured hMSC-DP are appropriate for producing clinical-grade cells. CD146 is a functional surface molecule to assess the potency of hMSC-DP.
Highlights
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used in clinics to treat a variety of human diseases [1,2,3,4]
All donors were healthy volunteers and the teeth were devoid of caries and inflammation. Human mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp (hMSC-DP), including Postnatal human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), were isolated from dental pulp according to the previous reports [9, 10]. hMSC-DP at passage 2 (P2) were separated to be propagated under traditional fetal bovine serum (FBS) (SE) or human platelet lysate serum-free (SF) culture conditions to generate DPSC-SE, DPSC-SF, SHED-SE and SHED-SF (Fig. 1a)
We analyzed the correlation between the potency of hMSCDP and the expression level of CD146 and found that the potency of hMSC-DP is positively correlated with the expression level of CD146, especially in proliferation, osteogenesis, and in vivo immunoregulatory capacity (Additional file 1: Fig. S6). These results suggest that CD146 is a functional surface molecule that represents the potency of hMSC-DP
Summary
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used in clinics to treat a variety of human diseases [1,2,3,4]. MSCs can be isolated from multiple tissues, such as bone marrow, Human mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp (hMSC-DP) have been isolated and extensively studied [9, 10] Their superior proliferation, multi-differentiation, and immunomodulatory capacities have been reported [11,12,13]. Ma et al Stem Cell Res Ther (2021) 12:488 to regenerate orofacial tissues and treat systemic diseases in pre-clinical and clinical settings [11, 14,15,16,17,18] It is well-known that the quality and potency of MSCs are critical to ensure their therapeutic effects [19]. Since hMSC-DP have been applied in numerous clinical studies, it is necessary to establish criteria to evaluate their potency for cell-based therapies
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
