Elucidation of calcified tissue regeneration mechanism using dental pulp cells

牙髓细胞由于其多能性而被认为是用于硬组织再生的有希望的工具。本研究的目的是建立一种简单的牙髓细胞再生硬组织的方法。为此，我们将牙髓细胞与成骨细胞进行比较，探讨其钙化机制。基因芯片分析显示，与成骨细胞相比，牙髓细胞中BMPs、膜联蛋白A8（一种钙通道）和溶质载体蛋白20a2（一种Pi转运蛋白）的表达水平更高，但牙髓细胞的基因表达水平与成骨细胞相似。将牙髓细胞移植到免疫缺陷小鼠体内，在体内发挥骨再生活性。

Dental pulp cells are considered to be a promising tool for the regeneration of hard tissues, due to their multipotency. The goal of the present study is to establish a simple method of regenerating hard tissue using dental pulp cells. Toward this end, we characterized dental pulp cells in comparison with osteoblasts and explored the mechanism of calcification. Mouse dental pulp cells exhibited strong alkaline phosphatase and extracellular matrix calcification activity even in the absence of exogenous rhBMP-2.A Genechip analysis showed the overall gene expression in dental pulp cells to be similar to that in osteoblasts, though dental pulp cells expressed higher levels of BMPs, annexin A8(a Ca channel), and solute carrier protein 20a2(Slc20a2)(a Pi transporter) than osteoblasts. The transplanted dental pulp cells into immunodeficiency mice exert bone regenerative activity in vivo.