title: Human dental pulp stem cells can differentiate into Schwann cells and promote and guide neurite outgrowth in an aligned tissue-engineered collagen construct in vitro.
abstract: In the present study, we evaluated the differentiation potential of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) toward Schwann cells, together with their functional capacity with regard to myelination and support of neurite outgrowth in vitro. Successful Schwann cell differentiation was confirmed at the morphological and ultrastructural level by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, compared to undifferentiated hDPSCs, immunocytochemistry and ELISA tests revealed increased glial marker expression and neurotrophic factor secretion of differentiated hDPSCs (d-hDPSCs), which promoted survival and neurite outgrowth in 2-dimensional dorsal root ganglia cultures. In addition, neurites were myelinated by d-hDPSCs in a 3-dimensional collagen type I hydrogel neural tissue construct. This engineered construct contained aligned columns of d-hDPSCs that supported and guided neurite outgrowth. Taken together, these findings provide the first evidence that hDPSCs are able to undergo Schwann cell differentiation and support neural outgrowth in vitro, proposing them to be good candidates for cell-based therapies as treatment for peripheral nerve injury.
authors.affiliation: 2Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Biomedical Research Institute, Lab of Histology, Agoralaan, Bldg. C, Office C011, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. wendy.martens@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Martens
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sanen
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Georgiou
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Struys
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bronckaers
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ameloot
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lambrichts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000166:cytology*; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007797:Laminin / Q000378:metabolism; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D064231:Nestin / Q000378:metabolism; D016501:Neurites / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D007797:Laminin; D064231:Nestin; D003094:Collagen
keywords: cellular hydrogel; glial cell; myelination; nerve repair; neural regeneration