Int J Biol Sci 2013; 9(10):1070-1078. doi:10.7150/ijbs.6662 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Unit of Maxillofacial Surgery, Calabrodental, Crotone, Italy;
2. Tecnologica Research Institute, Biomedical Section, Crotone, Italy.
* All authors equally contributed to this research.
We provide a detailed description of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from human periapical cysts, which we have termed hPCy-MSCs. These cells have a fibroblast-like shape and adhere to tissue culture plastic surfaces. hPCy-MSCs possess high proliferative potential and self-renewal capacity properties. We characterised the immunophenotype of hPCy-MSCs (CD73+, CD90+, CD105+, CD13+, CD29+, CD44+, CD45-, STRO-1+, CD146+) by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. hPCy-MSCs possess the potential to differentiate into osteoblast- and adipocyte-like cells in vitro. Multi-potentiality was evaluated with culture-specific staining and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis for osteo/odontogenic and adipogenic markers. This is the first report to indicate that human periapical cysts contain cells with MSC-like properties. Taken together, our findings indicate that human periapical cysts could be a rich source of MSCs.
Keywords: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), cyst, periapical inflammatory tissues, mesenchymal stem cells isolated from human periapical cyst (hPCy-MSCs), osteogenic differentiation, adipogenic differentiation, odontogenic cyst.