Abstract
BackgroundChimpanzee dental pulp stem/stromal cells (ChDPSCs) are very similar to human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hBMSCs) as demonstrated by the expression pattern of cell surface markers and their multipotent differentiation capability.ResultsChDPSCs were isolated from an incisor and a canine of a forty-seven year old female chimpanzee. A homogenous population of ChDPSCs was established in early culture at a high proliferation rate and verified by the expression pattern of thirteen cell surface markers. The ChDPSCs are multipotent and were capable of differentiating into osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic lineages under appropriate in vitro culture conditions. ChDPSCs also express stem cell (Sox-2, Nanog, Rex-1, Oct-4) and osteogenic (Osteonectin, osteocalcin, osteopontin) markers, which is comparable to reported results of rhesus monkey BMSCs (rBMSCs), hBMSCs and hDPSCs. Although ChDPSCs vigorously proliferated during the initial phase and gradually decreased in subsequent passages, the telomere length indicated that telomerase activity was not significantly reduced.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that ChDPSCs can be efficiently isolated from post-mortem teeth of adult chimpanzees and are multipotent. Due to the almost identical genome composition of humans and chimpanzees, there is an emergent need for defining the new role of chimpanzee modeling in comparative medicine. Teeth are easy to recover at necropsy and easy to preserve prior to the retrieval of dental pulp for stem/stromal cells isolation. Therefore, the establishment of ChDPSCs would preserve and maximize the applications of such a unique and invaluable animal model, and could advance the understanding of cellular functions and differentiation control of adult stem cells in higher primates.
Highlights
Chimpanzee dental pulp stem/stromal cells (ChDPSCs) are very similar to human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells as demonstrated by the expression pattern of cell surface markers and their multipotent differentiation capability
We aim to develop ChDPSCs and determine if they can be used as an alternative source of stem cells and serve a novel comparative model in adult stem cell research, which may lead to an increased understanding of stem cell properties and differentiation control in higher primates
The chimpanzee is one of the closest relatives to humans, and ChDPSCs could serve as a powerful comparative model for the study of stemness and differentiation control of adult stem cells in higher primates
Summary
Chimpanzee dental pulp stem/stromal cells (ChDPSCs) are very similar to human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hBMSCs) as demonstrated by the expression pattern of cell surface markers and their multipotent differentiation capability. DPSCs are capable of differentiating into osteogenic lineages with functions similar to those of osteoblasts [1,2,3]. The cell therapeutic potential of DPSCs has not been fully investigated, additional evidence of the multipotent differentiation potential of DPSCs has strongly suggested that DPSCs are able to differentiate beyond mineralized tissues [1,4,5,6]. The differentiation capacity and multipotency of DPSCs could be greatly enhanced by the selection of a subset of DPSCs based on cell surface marker expression and DNA dyes exclusion [4,6]. There is evidence supporting the notion that BMSCs have potential therapeutic applications, it is yet to be determined whether DPSCs have a therapeutic function
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