Wu Si, Zhou Yachuan, Yu Yi, Zhou Xin, Du Wei, Wan Mian, Fan Yi, Zhou Xuedong, Xu Xin, Zheng Liwei
State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Cariology and Endodontics, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
Stem Cells Int. 2019 Dec 19;2019:1515040. doi: 10.1155/2019/1515040. eCollection 2019.
The pulpotomy with pulp capping is aimed at retaining vital pulp with reparative dentin formation. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a crucial role in dentin regeneration; however, its constant administrations in the human body is still problematic. Chitosan was widely studied as an effective carrier to deliver bioactive molecules in regenerative medicine. In this study, we conducted a chitosan/-glycerophosphate (CS/-GP) hydrogel as a VEGF-sustained release system and explored its effects on dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). CS/-GP hydrogel was manufactured using a sol-gel method. SEM assay showed the spongy and porous microstructure of the lyophilized hydrogels. DPSCs cultured in the CS/-GP hydrogel kept adhesion and vitality. CCK-8 assay tested the promoted proliferation activity of DPSCs on the hydrogel. Besides, the added VEGF protein could continually release from VEGF/CS/-GP hydrogel. The VEGF/CS/-GP hydrogel could promote the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs better than VEGF treatment without hydrogel. Our results suggested that CS/-GP hydrogel could continually release VEGF and contribute to odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs, thus may become a potential carrier of bioactive molecules in pulp capping therapy.
盖髓术下的牙髓切断术旨在通过修复性牙本质形成来保留活髓。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）在牙本质再生中起关键作用；然而，在人体中持续给药仍存在问题。壳聚糖作为一种在再生医学中递送生物活性分子的有效载体已得到广泛研究。在本研究中，我们制备了壳聚糖/甘油磷酸酯（CS/-GP）水凝胶作为VEGF缓释系统，并探讨了其对牙髓干细胞（DPSC）的影响。CS/-GP水凝胶采用溶胶-凝胶法制备。扫描电子显微镜检测显示冻干水凝胶具有海绵状多孔微观结构。在CS/-GP水凝胶中培养的DPSC保持黏附性和活力。CCK-8检测表明水凝胶对DPSC的增殖活性有促进作用。此外，添加的VEGF蛋白可从VEGF/CS/-GP水凝胶中持续释放。VEGF/CS/-GP水凝胶比无凝胶的VEGF处理能更好地促进DPSC的成牙分化。我们的结果表明，CS/-GP水凝胶可持续释放VEGF并有助于DPSC的成牙分化，因此可能成为盖髓治疗中生物活性分子的潜在载体。
