Dental stem cells (DSCs), a distinct subset of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are isolated from dental tissues, such as dental pulp, exfoliated deciduous teeth, periodontal ligament, and apical papilla. They have emerged as a promising source of stem cell therapy for tissue regeneration and autoimmune disorders. The main types of DSCs include dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs), and stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP). Each type exhibits distinct advantages: easy access via minimally invasive procedures, multi-lineage differentiation potential, and excellent ethical acceptability. DSCs have demonstrated outstanding clinical efficacy in oral and maxillofacial regeneration, and their long-term safety has been verified. In oral tissue regeneration, DSCs are highly effective in oral tissue regeneration for critical applications such as the restoration of dental pulp vitality and periodontal tissue repair. A defining advantage of DSCs lies in their ability to integrate with host tissues and promote physiological regeneration, which render them a better option for oral tissue regenerative therapies. Beyond oral applications, DSCs also exhibit promising potential in the treatment of systemic diseases, including type Ⅱ diabetes and autoimmune diseases due to their immunomodulatory effects. Moreover, extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from DSCs act as critical mediators for DSCs' paracrine functions. Possessing regulatory properties similar to their parental cells, EVs are extensively utilized in research targeting tissue repair, immunomodulation, and regenerative therapy-offering a "cell-free" strategy to mitigate the limitations associated with cell-based therapies. Despite these advancements, standardizing large-scale manufacturing, maintaining strict quality control, and clarifying the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction of DSCs and their EVs with recipient tissues remain major obstacles to the clinical translation of these treatments into broad clinical use. Addressing these barriers will be critical to enhancing their clinical applicability and therapeutic efficacy. In conclusion, DSCs and their EVs represent a transformative approach in regenerative medicine, and increasing clinical evidence supports their application in oral and systemic diseases. Continuous innovation remains essential to unlocking the widespread clinical potential of DSCs.
Humans ; Dental Pulp/cytology* ; Translational Research, Biomedical ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/cytology* ; Periodontal Ligament/cytology* ; Stem Cells/cytology* ; Regeneration ; Tooth, Deciduous/cytology* ; Cell Differentiation ; Tissue Engineering/methods* ; Regenerative Medicine

BACKGROUND:Human periodontal ligament stem cels are a kind of mesenchymal stem cels that have self-renewal and multidifferentiation potential. Previous studies have showed that human periodontal ligament stem cels can differentiate into osteoblast-like cels or adipocyte-like cels under appropriate induction. Yet few studies have focused on the expression level of parathyroid hormone 1 receptor which wil affect the osteogenic potential of Human periodontal ligament stem cels. OBJECTIVE:To examine the expression level of parathyroid hormone 1 receptor between human periodontal ligament stem cels and human periodontal ligament cels and to discuss the role of parathyroid hormone 1 receptor in osteogenic differentiation. METHODS:By using magnetic-bead cel sorting, we separated and identified the human periodontal ligament stem cels and human periodontal ligament cels. We examined and compared the mRNA expression level of parathyroid hormone 1 receptor in human periodontal ligament stem cels and human periodontal ligament cels by Real-Time PCR. Osteoblastic differentiation was examined throughin vitro matrix mineralization by alizarin red staining and alkaline phosphatase assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Positive immunomagetic sorted cels were positive for STRO-1, CD146, Vimentin, indicating that they were periodontal ligament stem cels. Parathyroid hormone 1 receptor was expressed in human periodontal ligament stem cels and mainly located in cel membrane and cytoplasm which were similar to human periodontal ligament cels and MG63 cels. The expression of parathyroid hormone 1 receptor in human periodontal ligament stem cels was 3.7 times higher than that in human periodontal ligament cels, which was similar to that in MG63 cels. After osteogenic induction, human periodontal ligament stem cels showed a higher expression of parathyroid hormone 1 receptor and osteoblast-related genes as wel as the activity of osteoblast alkaline phosphatase and mineralization compared to human periodontal ligament cels. Our data showed that parathyroid hormone 1 receptor was higher in human periodontal ligament stem cels than human periodontal ligament cels and the expression was related with osteogenic differentiation, suggesting that human periodontal ligament stem cels display a higher potency of osteogenic differentiation and act as seed cels with a vast application prospect in oral tissue engineering.