Culturing and characterization of human periodontal ligament stem cells and investigating their chemotactic responses to bone morphogenetic protein-2 / 华西口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the chemotactic response of human periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) to bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Human PDLSCs were obtained from clinically healthy premolars extracted for orthodontic reasons and used to isolate PDLSCs by limited dilution method. The expression of Vimentin and stem cell marker STRO-1 on PDLSCs were demonstrated with immunocytochemical staining. Differentiation assay was used to detect the differentiation potential of PDLSCs. Cloning formation experiment and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay were used to determine the stem cell characteristics of PDLSCs. The chemotactic effect of BMP-2 on PDLSCs was detected by using a 24-multiwell Transwell cell culture chamber. The number of net migrated cells was counted in different microscope fields.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Human PDLSCs displayed positive staining for Vimentin and expressed the stem cell marker STRO-1. These cells differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes under defined culture conditions, possessed high self-renewal potential and formed single-cell colonies in vitro. The number of cells migrating at concentrations of 100, 200 ng mL(-1) of BMP-2 in Transwell cell culture chamber was significantly higher than that of negative control (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BMP-2 may participate in regulating chemotaxis of human PDLSCs.</p>