Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University of Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
Clin Oral Investig. 2010 Aug;14(4):433-40. doi: 10.1007/s00784-009-0310-4. Epub 2009 Jul 10.
Dental stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) and dental follicle cells (DFCs) are neural crest-derived stem cells from human dental tissues. Interestingly, SHED and DFCs can successfully differentiate into neuron-like cells. We hypothesized that SHED and DFCs have the same neural cell differentiation potentials. To evaluate neural cell differentiation, we cultivated SHED and DFCs in four different serum-replacement media (SRMs) and analyzed cell morphology, cell proliferation, and gene expression patterns before and after differentiation. In a standard cell culture medium, SHED and DFCs have not only similar cell morphologies, but they also have similar gene expression patterns for known stem cell markers. However, only SHED expressed the neural stem cell marker Pax6. After cultivation in SRMs, cell proliferations of DFCs and SHED were reduced and the cell morphology was spindle-like with long processes. However, differentiated DFCs and SHED had different neural cell marker expression patterns. For example, gene expression of the late neural cell marker microtubule-associated protein 2 was upregulated in DFCs and downregulated in SHED in SRM with the B27 supplement. In contrast, SHED formed neurosphere-like cell clusters in SRM with the B27 supplement, epidermal growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor-2. Moreover, SHED differentially expressed the glial cell marker glial fibrillary acidic protein, which in contrast was weakly or not expressed in DFCs. In conclusion, SHED and DFCs have different neural differentiation potentials under the same cell culture conditions.
人脱落乳牙（SHED）和牙囊细胞（DFCs）中的牙齿干 细胞是来源于人牙齿组织的神经嵴干细胞。有趣的是， SHED 和 DFC 可以成功分化为类神经元细胞。我们假设 SHED 和 DFC 具有相同的神经细胞分化潜能。为了评估神经细胞分化，我们在四种不同的无血清替代物（SRM）培养基中培养 SHED 和 DFCs，并在分化前后分析细胞形态、细胞增殖和基因表达模式。在标准细胞培养基中，SHED 和 DFCs 不仅具有相似的细胞形态，而且具有已知干细胞标志物的相似基因表达模式。然而，只有 SHED 表达神经干细胞标志物 Pax6。在 SRM 培养后，DFCs 和 SHED 的细胞增殖减少，细胞形态呈长梭形并有长突起。然而，分化后的 DFCs 和 SHED 具有不同的神经细胞标志物表达模式。例如，在含有 B27 补充物的 SRM 中，晚期神经细胞标志物微管相关蛋白 2 的基因表达在 DFCs 中上调，而在 SHED 中下调。相比之下，SHED 在含有 B27 补充物、表皮生长因子和碱性成纤维细胞生长因子-2 的 SRM 中形成神经球样细胞簇。此外，SHED 差异表达神经胶质细胞标志物胶质纤维酸性蛋白，而 DFCs 中则表达较弱或不表达。总之，在相同的细胞培养条件下，SHED 和 DFCs 具有不同的神经分化潜能。
