title: Transdifferentiation of human periodontal ligament stem cells into pancreatic cell lineage.
abstract: Human periodontal ligament-derived stem cells (PDLSCs) demonstrate self-renewal capacity and multilineage differentiation potential. In this study, we investigated the transdifferentiation potential of human PDLSCs into pancreatic islet cells. To form three-dimensional (3D) clusters, PDLSCs were cultured in Matrigel with media containing differentiation-inducing agents. We found that after 6 days in culture, PDLSCs underwent morphological changes resembling pancreatic islet-like cell clusters (ICCs). The morphological characteristics of PDLSC-derived ICCs were further assessed using scanning electron microscopy analysis. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis, we found that pluripotency genes were downregulated, whereas early endoderm and pancreatic differentiation genes were upregulated, in PDLSC-derived ICCs compared with undifferentiated PDLSCs. Furthermore, we found that PDLSC-derived ICCs were capable of secreting insulin in response to high concentrations of glucose, validating their functional differentiation into islet cells. Finally, we also performed dithizone staining, as well as immunofluorescence assays and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis for pancreatic differentiation markers, to confirm the differentiation status of PDLSC-derived ICCs. These results demonstrate that PDLSCs can transdifferentiate into functional pancreatic islet-like cells and provide a novel, alternative cell population for pancreatic repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyunghee-daero, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seong Yeong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Il Keun
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Jung Sun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Heo
mesh_terms: D019070:Cell Lineage; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004707:Endoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008963:Molar / Q000166:cytology; D010513:Periodontal Ligament / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
keywords: 3D Matrigel culture; pancreatic islet-like cells; pancreatic repair; periodontal ligament stem cells