Newton001: Characterisation of Adult Stem Cells and the initiation of an Adult Stem Cell Bank

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Most adult tissues contain a population of stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells or pericytes, that are normally found surrounding capillaries. These stem cells can give rise to a number of different cell types, including cartilage and bone, that can be used to repair damaged or defective tissues in the body. The pericytes found in the head and neck, including those found within teeth, appear to be different to those of the rest of the body, and may be able to give rise to a wider range of different tissues, for example, nerve tissues, which makes them of interest in developing new treatments for a variety of diseases. We propose therefore to characterise in detail the pericytes found within teeth, in the dental pulp, as an example of those in the head and neck, and compare them with the pericytes found in other parts of the body. Fat is a very convenient source of pericytes since it contains a large number of these cells and is often removed surgically. We will look at the overall pattern of genes which are expressed in these two populations of pericytes, to determine what the exact differences between them might be, and in parallel, we will compare the ability of the two types of pericyte to give rise to a range of different cell types that could be useful in the clinic, for example, bone, cartilage, muscle, nerves and pigment cells. If the two types of pericyte do show differences in the types of tissues they can produce, we will ask whether we can explain these differences based on any differences we observe in the patterns of genes expressed in these cells. The value of this is that around the world, scientists and clinicians are interested in creating banks of these pericytes, so that they are available when needed by any suitable patient. The pericytes obtained from fat are a very convenient source of cells to store in such banks, but if the pericytes from dental pulp are able to make a wider range of useful tissues, then we should clearly be including these cells in the bank in addition to those from fat.