title: [Experimental study of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells differentiating into periodontal ligament-like cells].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the possibility of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSC) differentiating into human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLC) by establishing a coculture model in vitro.
  
  
  METHODS
  Indirect coculture model of hPDLC with hUCMSC was established on Transwell system. The protein expression of bone sialoprotein(BSP), osteocalcin(OCN) and osteopontin (OPN) was examined by immunohistochemical staining. The changes of hUCMSC on molecular level were analyzed by Western blotting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  hUCMSC was in the form of polygon and rhombus after induction by hPDLC. Immunohistochemistry staining and Western blotting showed that OCN and OPN were up-regulated [OCN:(0.88 +/- 0.21)vs (1.42 +/- 0.17), OPN: (0.93 +/- 0.13) vs (1.43 +/- 0.22), P < 0.05] and BSP was down-regulated [(1.60 +/- 0.09) vs (0.75 +/- 0.20), P < 0.05] after coculture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  hUCMSC can differentiate into hPDLC under certain conditions in vitro and hUCMSC may hopefully become the stem cells in periodontal tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510055, China. fygzc@126.com
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D010513:Periodontal Ligament / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology