title: Dental mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: Mammalian teeth harbour mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which contribute to tooth growth and repair. These dental MSCs possess many in vitro features of bone marrow-derived MSCs, including clonogenicity, expression of certain markers, and following stimulation, differentiation into cells that have the characteristics of osteoblasts, chondrocytes and adipocytes. Teeth and their support tissues provide not only an easily accessible source of MSCs but also a tractable model system to study their function and properties in vivo In addition, the accessibility of teeth together with their clinical relevance provides a valuable opportunity to test stem cell-based treatments for dental disorders. This Review outlines some recent discoveries in dental MSC function and behaviour and discusses how these and other advances are paving the way for the development of new biologically based dental therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Craniofacial Development and Stem Cell Biology, Dental Institute, Kings College London, London SE1 9RT, UK paul.sharpe@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2116-9561
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Sharpe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008903:Minerals / Q000378:metabolism; D014070:Tooth / Q000166:cytology*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals
keywords: Dental; Incisor; MSCs; Pulp; Teeth