Kawanabe Noriaki, Fukushima Hiroaki, Ishihara Yoshihito, Yanagita Takeshi, Kurosaka Hiroshi, Yamashiro Takashi
Department of Orthodontics, Okayama University Hospital, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8525, Japan,
Clin Oral Investig. 2015 Mar;19(2):363-71. doi: 10.1007/s00784-014-1260-z. Epub 2014 May 27.
It is well accepted that stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-4 is an antigen that is useful to isolate adult stem cells analogous to embryonic stem cells. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated whether SSEA-4 can also be used as a marker to identify human deciduous dental pulp (D-DP) stem cells.
Intact deciduous teeth were collected from healthy patients who were undergoing orthodontic treatment at Okayama University Hospital. Immunofluorescence analysis, flow cytometric analysis, and multilineage differentiation assay were performed to characterize SSEA-4+ D-DP cells.
The D-DP cells had the characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), namely plastic adherence, specific surface antigen expression, and multipotent differentiation potential. SSEA-4 expression was detected in D-DP cells in vitro and ex vivo samples. A flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that 21.2 % of the D-DP cells were positive for SSEA-4. The SSEA-4+ clonal D-DP cells showed multilineage differentiation potential toward adipocytes, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes in vitro. In fact, 26.1 % (6/23) of the SSEA-4+ clonal D-DP cells showed adipogenic potential, 91.3 % (21/23) showed osteogenic potential, 91.3 % (21/23) showed chondrogenic potential, and 87.0 % (20/23) showed both osteogenic and chondrogenic potential.
Thus, the majority of SSEA-4+ D-DP cells had the potential for multilineage differentiation. Hence, SSEA-4 appears to be a specific marker that can be used to identify D-DP stem cells.
SSEA-4+ D-DP cells appear to be a promising source of stem cells for regenerative therapy.
阶段特异性胚胎抗原（SSEA）-4是一种可用于分离类似于胚胎干细胞的成体干细胞的抗原，这一点已得到广泛认可。因此，在本研究中，我们调查了SSEA-4是否也可作为鉴定人乳牙牙髓（D-DP）干细胞的标志物。
从冈山大学医院正在接受正畸治疗的健康患者中收集完整的乳牙。进行免疫荧光分析、流式细胞术分析和多谱系分化试验，以鉴定SSEA-4+ D-DP细胞的特征。
D-DP细胞具有间充质干细胞（MSC）的特征，即贴壁生长、特定表面抗原表达和多能分化潜能。在体外和离体样本的D-DP细胞中均检测到SSEA-4表达。流式细胞术分析表明，21.2%的D-DP细胞SSEA-4呈阳性。SSEA-4+克隆性D-DP细胞在体外对脂肪细胞、成骨细胞和软骨细胞具有多谱系分化潜能。实际上，26.1%（6/23）的SSEA-4+克隆性D-DP细胞具有脂肪生成潜能，91.3%（21/23）具有成骨潜能，91.3%（21/23）具有软骨生成潜能，87.0%（20/23）同时具有成骨和软骨生成潜能。
因此，大多数SSEA-4+ D-DP细胞具有多谱系分化潜能。因此，SSEA-4似乎是一种可用于鉴定D-DP干细胞的特异性标志物。
SSEA-4+ D-DP细胞似乎是再生治疗中有前景的干细胞来源。
