title: Bioengineering of a human whole tooth: progress and challenge.
abstract: A major challenge in stem cell-based bioengineering of an implantable human tooth is to identify appropriate sources of postnatal stem cells that are odontogenic competent as the epithelial component due to the lack of enamel epithelial cells in adult teeth. In a recent issue (2013, 2:6) of Cell Regeneration, Cai and colleagues reported that epithelial sheets derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can functionally substitute for tooth germ epithelium to regenerate tooth-like structures, providing an appealing stem cell source for future human tooth regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Developmental and Neuro Biology, College of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yanding
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Developmental and Neuro Biology, College of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province P.R. China ; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118 USA.
authors.forename: YiPing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen