Abstract

It was recently discovered that dental tissues are important sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In the oral cavity MSCs can be found in the pulp, dental follicle, apical papilla and gingival tissue, among others. Many studies support the therapeutic potential of MSCs in regenerative therapies. The objective of this study was to isolate and culture mesenchymal stem cells from human dental pulp and follicle, and to characterize their immunophenotype and differentiation potential to adipogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic lineages. Oral cavity stem cells were cultured from pulp and dental follicle of wisdom teeth from young permanent teeth. Immunotypification of MSCs was performed by flow cytometry and cultures were evaluated for their ability to differentiate into the three lineages mentioned. Our results corroborate that cultured oral MSC cells isolated from pulp and dental follicle were mesenchymal in origin, being the latter more easy to obtain. Dental follicle MSCs have greater growth potential and differentiation capacity compared to dental pulp MSCs, probably due to their more immature developmental state.