Dissanayaka W L, Zhu L, Hargreaves K M, Jin L, Zhang C
Endodontics, Comprehensive Dental Care, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Endodontics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
J Dent Res. 2014 Dec;93(12):1296-303. doi: 10.1177/0022034514550040. Epub 2014 Sep 8.
Creating an optimal microenvironment that mimics the extracellular matrix (ECM) of natural pulp and securing an adequate blood supply for the survival of cell transplants are major hurdles that need to be overcome in dental pulp regeneration. However, many currently available scaffolds fail to mimic essential functions of natural ECM. The present study investigated a novel approach involving the use of scaffold-free microtissue spheroids of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) prevascularized by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in pulp regeneration. In vitro-fabricated microtissue spheroids were inserted into the canal space of tooth-root slices and were implanted subcutaneously into immunodeficient mice. Histological examination revealed that, after four-week implantation, tooth-root slices containing microtissue spheroids resulted in well-vascularized and cellular pulp-like tissues, compared with empty tooth-root slices, which were filled with only subcutaneous fat tissue. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that the tissue found in the tooth-root slices was of human origin, as characterized by the expression of human mitochondria, and contained odontoblast-like cells organized along the dentin, as assessed by immunostaining for nestin and dentin sialoprotein (DSP). Vascular structures formed by HUVECs in vitro were successfully anastomosed with the host vasculature upon transplantation in vivo, as shown by immunostaining for human CD31. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that prevascularized, scaffold-free, microtissue spheroids can successfully regenerate vascular dental pulp-like tissue and also highlight the significance of the microtissue microenvironment as an optimal environment for successful pulp-regeneration strategies.
在牙髓再生中,创造一个模拟天然牙髓细胞外基质(ECM)的最佳微环境并确保为细胞移植的存活提供充足的血液供应是需要克服的主要障碍。然而,目前许多可用的支架无法模拟天然ECM的基本功能。本研究调查了一种新方法,该方法涉及使用由人脐静脉内皮细胞(HUVECs)预血管化的牙髓干细胞(DPSCs)的无支架微组织球体进行牙髓再生。将体外制备的微组织球体插入牙根切片的根管空间,并皮下植入免疫缺陷小鼠体内。组织学检查显示,植入四周后,与仅填充皮下脂肪组织的空牙根切片相比,含有微组织球体的牙根切片形成了血管化良好的细胞性牙髓样组织。免疫组织化学染色表明,牙根切片中发现的组织是人源性的,其特征在于人线粒体的表达,并且通过巢蛋白和牙本质涎蛋白(DSP)的免疫染色评估,含有沿牙本质排列的成牙本质细胞样细胞。如人CD31的免疫染色所示,体外由HUVECs形成的血管结构在体内移植后成功地与宿主脉管系统吻合。总的来说,这些发现表明,预血管化、无支架的微组织球体可以成功再生血管化的牙髓样组织,也突出了微组织微环境作为成功牙髓再生策略的最佳环境的重要性。