title: Hard tissue-forming potential of stem/progenitor cells in human dental follicle and dental papilla.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The existence of stem/progenitor cells in dental tissue has been suggested but their characterization in the human tooth germ remains elusive. The purpose of this study was to investigate these cells in human dental follicles and dental papillae at the crown-forming stage and compare their potential for hard tissue formation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used dental follicle cells (DFCs) and dental papilla cells (DPCs) derived from dental follicles and dental papillae at the crown-forming stage and compared their proliferative capacity, cell surface antigens and ability to form hard tissue in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both DFCs and DPCs had extensive proliferation ability, expressed similar cell surface antigens and were capable of forming hard tissue in vivo as well as in vitro. However, there were two differences between DFCs and DPCs. First, DPCs had a significantly higher calcium accumulation than that in DFCs. Second, DFCs expressed a cementoblast marker, whereas DPCs expressed an odontoblast marker.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We propose that dental follicles and dental papillae at the crown-forming stage contain different types of stem/progenitor cells and may have hard tissue-forming ability in a possibly origin-specific lineage direction.
authors: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521, Japan.
authors: Takahiro
authors: T
authors: Yagyuu
authors: Etsuko
authors: E
authors: Ikeda
authors: Hajime
authors: H
authors: Ohgushi
authors: Mika
authors: M
authors: Tadokoro
authors: Motohiro
authors: M
authors: Hirose
authors: Masahiko
authors: M
authors: Maeda
authors: Kotarou
authors: K
authors: Inagake
authors: Tadaaki
authors: T
authors: Kirita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D002648:Child; D003771:Dental Papilla / Q000166:cytology*; D003795:Dental Sac / Q000166:cytology*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase