Characterization of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Tooth Pulp

Advances in regenerative medicine have shown a promising perspective in the use of mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of various diseases and other conditions, such as in the cellular healing process. Mesenchymal stem cells are undifferentiated cells, with high proliferative capacity and differentiation in other cell lines, and when manipulated in vitro, can undergo several passages without losing their characteristic. Among the various sources of obtaining this cell type the tooth pulp has shown to be more promising, due to its easy obtainment (it is a non invasive procedure) and isolation, than other cell sources. The mesenchymal stem cells present some characteristics, such as adhesion to the plastic, the possibility of multiplying and specific surface markers expression pattern by flow cytometry labeling that allows its characterization. The aim of the present study is to characterize the mesenchymal stem cells obtained from the third molar tooth pulp, according to the parameters described above. The results showed adherence of the cultured cells to the plastic, 70% of the cells adhered 30 min after seeding. The quantitative data was confirmed with light microscopy observations. The immunophenotypic labeling was consistent with MSCs flow cytometry pattern. In addition the karyotype analysis demonstrated cell chromosome stability. These results indicate a promissing source of cells to be used in tissue engineering.