Elsevier

Journal of Oral Biosciences

Volume 55, Issue 4, November 2013, Pages 191-199
Journal of Oral Biosciences

Review
Frontier dental research on iPS cells

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.job.2013.08.002Get rights and content

Abstract

New technologies are required to regenerate large defects in periodontal tissues and alveolar bone, and ultimately the lost tooth itself. Induced pluriopotent stem (iPS) cells can be differentiated into various cells in the body and can technically be produced from cells of human adult tissues. Accordingly, these cells have a high degree of availability for regenerative medicine in dentistry. In the field of iPS cell research, to solve many issues, researchers are carrying out various studies, in search for an effective technique for the generation of iPS cells, methods for the safe culture and transplantation of iPS cells, protocols for the induction from iPS cells to tissue-specific cells, and utilization as models of genetic diseases. In dental research, iPS cells would be applied for the regeneration of oral tissues and the development of clinical treatments for congenital diseases. In this review, we mention that dental tissue has higher availability for the production of iPS cells than other tissue types, and iPS cells have the capacity to differentiate into oral tissue cells including dental epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Therefore, iPS cell technology is expected to open new doors, especially for dental regenerative sciences, although many hurdles must still be overcome before iPS cells can fulfill their clinical promise.

Section snippets

Gingiva as an iPS cell source

Various tissue engineering technologies have been developed in recent years using stem cells as a source for missing tissues. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which have similar potential to embryonic stem (ES) cells, can be generated through the reprogramming of somatic cells from different tissues by the forced expression of defined exogenous factors. These iPS cells can be efficiently generated from accessible tissues and have potential for use in various clinical applications [1].

The

Induction of ameloblast differentiation of iPS cells for tooth regeneration

Tooth development and morphogenesis are regulated by reciprocal interactions between oral epithelial cells and mesenchymal cells derived from the cranial neural crest. Oral epithelial cells differentiate into enamel-forming ameloblasts, whereas mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) form dentin-forming odontoblasts. Recent studies of regenerative dentistry have revealed viable techniques to differentiate stem cells into odontoblasts, cementoblasts, and osteoblasts. However, the mechanism of ameloblast

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment

This investigation was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A: 22689049, H.E.) and for Scientific Research (B: 25293395, H.E.) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, by the Iwate Medical University Open Research Project (K.O. 2007–2011), by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 19562128, M. A.) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (No. 20679006 M. A.) from MEXT, and by the Next Program LS010.

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  • 1

    These authors contributed equally to this work.

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