AIM: To investigate whether dental pulp stem cells from carious teeth (DPSCs-CT) can differentiate into functional dopaminergic-like (DAergic) cells and provide an alternative cell source in regenerative medicine.
METHODOLOGY: Dental pulp stem cells from healthy (DPSCs) and carious teeth (DPSCs-CT) were isolated from young donors. Both cell lines were expanded in identical culture conditions and subsequently differentiated towards DAergic-like cells using pre-defined dopaminergic cocktails. The dopaminergic efficiencies were evaluated both at gene and protein as well as at secretome levels.
RESULTS: The efficiency of DPSCs-CT to differentiate into DAergic-like cells was not equivalent to that of DPSCs. This was further reflected in both gene and protein generation whereby key neuronal markers such as nestin, NURR1 and beta-III-tubulin were expressed significantly lower as compared to differentiated DPSCs (P
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.