Laminin-1 acts as an adhesive for odontoblast-like cells and promotes their differentiation toward a hard tissue-forming phenotype.

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of laminin-1 (LN-1 or LN-111) on an odontoblast-like cell line, MDPC-23. Wells of non-treated polystyrene plates were coated with various concentrations of LN-1 (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 µg/mL) and left to dry for 2 days. Water-coated surfaces were used as controls. MDPC-23 cell proliferation, differentiation and mineralization were evaluated in terms of the CCK-8 assay, ALP activity, real-time RT-PCR and Alizarin red staining. The data indicated that LN-1 promoted the proliferation of MDPC-23 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, it enhanced ALP activity and expression of key odontogenic genes (DMP-1 and DSPP) upon addition of mineralization reagents, leading to significant promotion of calcification by the cells. These results demonstrate that LN-1 acts as an adhesive for odontoblast-like cells, allowing up-regulation of odontogenic genes and accelerating matrix mineralization. In the context of the present study, the optimal LN-1 coating concentration for MDPC-23 cells was suggested to be 100 µg/mL.