Regenerative Medicine – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

5.2 Importance of DPSCs in personalized regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine has the potential to heal or replace tissues and organs damaged by age, disease, or trauma, as well as to normalize congenital defects. Regenerative medicine substitutes for or regenerates damaged human cells, tissues and/or organs in order to restore their normal functioning [11]. Tissue engineering is an integral part of modern regenerative medicine. Tissue engineering involves the application of adult and/or stem cells, usage of cellular regeneration enhancing scaffolds and microenvironments, and important bioactive molecules and growth factors [12,13]. The success of tissue engineering and cellular regeneration is dependent on the biocompatibility of the scaffolds/molecules used, management of immune rejection and chronic inflammation and control of bacterial infections [13,14]. Recently, Dental Stem Cells (DSCs) are gaining more attention as a stem cell source in regenerative medicine due to its higher clonality, proliferation potential and the capacity to retain stemness even after long-term cryopreservation [15]. Several studies have provided evidence that human dental pulp contains precursor cells, named dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC). These cells have self-renewal potential and multilineage differentiation capacity. As these cell cells can be easily isolated, cultured and cryopreserved, they form an attractive stem cell source for futuristic tissue engineering purposes [16].

Dental Stem Cells (DSCs) are mesenchymal cell populations that exhibit self-renewal capacity and multidifferentiation potential [17,18]. As mentioned earlier, Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) are the first identified and characterized DSCs [2]. Currently, there are five main types of DSCs [19,20]. They are: stem cells from exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) [3], periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) [21], and dental follicle precursor cells (DFPCs) [22], stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP) [23]. All these stem cells except SHED are capable of forming permanent teeth [19]. Since these cells are easily accessible, and they prevail throughout the lifetime of human beings, they are widely studied in regenerative medicine as a source of autologous stem cells. These cells find applications in regenerative therapies including oro-facial, neurologic, ocular, cardiovascular, diabetic, renal, muscular dystrophy and autoimmune conditions [19,20]. In this chapter, we aim to highlight the recent developments and findings in the field of DPSC mediated regenerative medicine. Indeed, DPSCs can be used for clinical applications in a wide array of diseases. But, only the most relevant findings with regards to regenerative medicine associated with DPSCs is discussed in the current chapter.

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Regenerative Medicine - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics