A Hyaluronan-Based Scaffold for the in Vitro Construction of Dental Pulp-Like Tissue

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Letizia Ferroni³  Chiara Gardin³  Stefano Sivolella²  Giulia Brunello²  Mario Berengo²  Adriano Piattelli¹  Eriberto Bressan²  Barbara Zavan³  Alexander M. Seifalian⁴  Aaron Tan⁴ 

[1] Department of Stomatology and Biotechnologies, University of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy; E-Mail:;Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35131 Padova, Italy; E-Mails:;Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Viale Giuseppe Colombo, 3, 35131 Padova, Italy; E-Mails:Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Viale Giuseppe Colombo, 3, 35131 Padova, Italy;

关键词: hyaluronan;    stem cells;    human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs);    dental pulp;    tissue engineering;    regenerative endodontics;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms16034666

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Dental pulp tissue supports the vitality of the tooth, but it is particularly vulnerable to external insults, such as mechanical trauma, chemical irritation or microbial invasion, which can lead to tissue necrosis. In the present work, we present an endodontic regeneration method based on the use of a tridimensional (3D) hyaluronan scaffold and human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) to produce a functional dental pulp-like tissue in vitro. An enriched population of DPSCs was seeded onto hyaluronan-based non-woven meshes in the presence of differentiation factors to induce the commitment of stem cells to neuronal, glial, endothelial and osteogenic phenotypes. In vitro experiments, among which were gene expression profiling and immunofluorescence (IF) staining, proved the commitment of DPSCs to the main components of dental pulp tissue. In particular, the hyaluronan-DPSCs construct showed a dental pulp-like morphology consisting of several specialized cells growing inside the hyaluronan fibers. Furthermore, these constructs were implanted into rat calvarial critical-size defects. Histological analyses and gene expression profiling performed on hyaluronan-DPSCs grafts showed the regeneration of osteodentin-like tissue. Altogether, these data suggest the regenerative potential of the hyaluronan-DPSC engineered tissue.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.