title: Establishment of Hertwig's epithelial root sheath/epithelial rests of Malassez cell line from human periodontium.
abstract: Human Hertwig's epithelial root sheath/epithelial rests of Malassez (HERS/ERM) cells are epithelial remnants of teeth residing in the periodontium. Although the functional roles of HERS/ERM cells have yet to be elucidated, they are a unique epithelial cell population in adult teeth and are reported to have stem cell characteristics. Therefore, HERS/ERM cells might play a role as an epithelial component for the repair or regeneration of dental hard tissues; however, they are very rare population in periodontium and the primary isolation of them is considered to be difficult. To overcome these problems, we immortalized primary HERS/ERM cells isolated from human periodontium using SV40 large T antigen (SV40 LT) and performed a characterization of the immortalized cell line. Primary HERS/ERM cells could not be maintained for more than 6 passages; however, immortalized HERS/ERM cells were maintained for more than 20 passages. There were no differences in the morphological and immunophenotypic characteristics of HERS/ERM cells and immortalized HERS/ERM cells. The expression of epithelial stem cell and embryonic stem cell markers was maintained in immortalized HERS/ERM cells. Moreover, immortalized HERS/ERM cells could acquire mesenchymal phenotypes through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition via TGF-β1. In conclusion, we established an immortalized human HERS/ERM cell line with SV40 LT and expect this cell line to contribute to the understanding of the functional roles of HERS/ERM cells and the tissue engineering of teeth.
authors: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea ; Present address: Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
authors: Hyun
authors: H
authors: Nam
authors: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea.
authors: Ji-Hye
authors: JH
authors: Kim
authors: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea.
authors: Jae-Won
authors: JW
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea.
authors: Byoung-Moo
authors: BM
authors: Seo
authors: Department of Oral Histology-Developmental Biology, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea.
authors: Joo-Cheol
authors: JC
authors: Park
authors: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea.
authors: Jung-Wook
authors: JW
authors: Kim
authors: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-749, Korea.
authors: Gene
authors: G
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002469:Cell Separation; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000187:drug effects; D016557:Guided Tissue Regeneration, Periodontal; D006801:Humans; D010519:Periodontium / Q000166:cytology*; D010641:Phenotype; D061251:Primary Cell Culture; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000166:cytology*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming; D015415:Biomarkers; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1
keywords: Hertwig's epithelial root sheath/epithelial rests of Malassez cells; SV40 large T antigen; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; immortalization; stemness