Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2015; 7(2): 399-407
Published online Mar 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i2.399
Tooth-derived stem cells: Update and perspectives
Miki Taketomi Saito, Karina Gonzales Silvério, Márcio Zaffalon Casati, Enilson Antonio Sallum, Francisco Humberto Nociti Jr
Miki Taketomi Saito, Karina Gonzales Silvério, Márcio Zaffalon Casati, Enilson Antonio Sallum, Francisco Humberto Nociti Jr, Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontics, Division of Periodontics, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13414-903, Brazil
Author contributions: Saito MT, Silvério KG, Casati MZ, Sallum EA and Nociti Jr FH equally contributed to conception, drafting and revision of the manuscript; all authors approved the final version to be submitted.
Supported by The CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil (Saito MT).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Francisco Humberto Nociti Jr, DDS, MSc, PhD, Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontics, Division of Periodontics, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Avenida Limeira, 901, Bairro Areião, Piracicaba, São Paulo 13414-903, Brazil. nociti@fop.unicamp.br
Telephone: +55-19-21065301 Fax: +55-19-21065301
Received: July 19, 2014
Peer-review started: July 19, 2014
First decision: September 16, 2014
Revised: October 22, 2014
Accepted: November 7, 2014
Article in press: November 10, 2014
Published online: March 26, 2015
Processing time: 244 Days and 6.3 Hours
Abstract

Tissue engineering is an emerging field of science that focuses on creating suitable conditions for the regeneration of tissues. The basic components for tissue engineering involve an interactive triad of scaffolds, signaling molecules, and cells. In this context, stem cells (SCs) present the characteristics of self-renewal and differentiation capacity, which make them promising candidates for tissue engineering. Although they present some common markers, such as cluster of differentiation (CD)105, CD146 and STRO-1, SCs derived from various tissues have different patterns in relation to proliferation, clonogenicity, and differentiation abilities in vitro and in vivo. Tooth-derived tissues have been proposed as an accessible source to obtain SCs with limited morbidity, and various tooth-derived SCs (TDSCs) have been isolated and characterized, such as dental pulp SCs, SCs from human exfoliated deciduous teeth, periodontal ligament SCs, dental follicle progenitor cells, SCs from apical papilla, and periodontal ligament of deciduous teeth SCs. However, heterogeneity among these populations has been observed, and the best method to select the most appropriate TDSCs for regeneration approaches has not yet been established. The objective of this review is to outline the current knowledge concerning the various types of TDSCs, and discuss the perspectives for their use in regenerative approaches.

Keywords: Cell-based therapy; Mesenchymal stem cells; Dental stem cells; Differentiation; Tissue engineering

Core tip: Stem cells (SCs) present the characteristics of self-renewal and differentiation capacity, which make them promising candidates for regenerative approaches. Although they present some common markers, SCs derived from various tissues have different patterns of proliferation, clonogenicity, and differentiation. Tooth-derived tissues are an accessible source of SCs with limited morbidity. However, heterogeneity within populations of tooth-derived SCs has been observed, and the best method to select the most appropriate SCs for regenerative approaches has not yet been established.