title: Dental pulp stem cells: osteogenic differentiation and gene expression.
abstract: Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are an adult stem cell population with high proliferative potential and the ability to differentiate in many cell types, and this has led scientists to consider these cells to be an alternative source of postnatal stem cells comparable to mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow. In this work, we studied the osteoblastic phenotype developed by DPSCs cultured in osteogenic medium. In particular, we analyzed the expression of the typical osteoblast markers such as alkaline phosphatase, collagen type I, osteocalcin, osteopontin, as well as mineralized matrix production. Furthermore, the gene expression during DPSC differentiation into osteoblastic cells was studied by microarray technology. Using microarray and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, we found that IGFBP-5, JunB, and NURR1 genes are upregulated during the differentiation of DPSCs. These data indicate that opportunely differentiated DPSCs show a correct osteoblastic phenotype. Therefore, during the osteoblastic differentiation process, IGFBP-5, JunB, and NURR1 gene expression is significantly increased.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science, Medical School, Foggia, Italy. g.mori@unifg.it
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Giacomina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brunetti
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oranger
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carbone
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ballini
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lo Muzio
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colucci
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Felice Roberto
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grano
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult