Isolation and culture of dental epithelial stem cells from the adult mouse incisor.
Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tooth regeneration and renewal has become a topic of great interest(1-4), and the mouse incisor provides a model for these processes. This remarkable organ grows continuously throughout the animal's life and generates all the necessary cell types from active pools of adult stem cells housed in the labial (toward the lip) and lingual (toward the tongue) cervical loop (CL) regions. Only the dental stem cells from the labial CL give rise to ameloblasts that generate enamel, the outer covering of teeth, on the labial surface. This asymmetric enamel formation allows abrasion at the incisor tip, and progenitors and stem cells in the proximal incisor ensure that the dental tissues are constantly replenished. The ability to isolate and grow these progenitor or stem cells in vitro allows their expansion and opens doors to numerous experiments not achievable in vivo, such as high throughput testing of potential stem cell regulatory factors. Here, we describe and demonstrate a reliable and consistent method to culture cells from the labial CL of the mouse incisor.
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco; Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco.
Miquella G
MG
Chavez
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco.
Jimmy
J
Hu
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco.
Kerstin
K
Seidel
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco; Department of Pathology and Research Center, Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University.
Chunying
C
Li
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco.
Andrew
A
Jheon
Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cite, UMR S872; Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR S872; INSERM U872.
Adrien
A
Naveau
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco; Division of Endodontics, Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California, San Francisco.
Orapin
O
Horst
Department of Orofacial Sciences and Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco; Department of Pediatrics and Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco; Ophir.Klein@ucsf.edu.
Ophir D
OD
Klein
D000818:Animals; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D007180:Incisor / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*