Ultrastructural and Immunocytochemical Analysis of Multilineage Differentiated Human Dental Pulp- and Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Tom Struys, Marjan Moreels, Wendy Martens, Raf Donders, Esther Wolfs, Ivo Lambrichts, Sarah Baatout

Research outputpeer-review

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are one of the most promising stem cell types due to their availability and relatively simple requirements for in vitro expansion and genetic manipulation. Besides the well-characterized MSCs derived from bone marrow, there is growing evidence suggesting that dental pulp and the umbilical cord matrix both contain a substantial amount of cells having properties similar to those of MSCs. In order to assess the potential of dental pulp-derived MSCs (DPSC) and umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCSC) in future clinical applications, it is essential to gain more insight into their differentiation capacity and to evaluate the tissues formed by these cells. In the present study, the morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of DPSC and UCSC induced towards osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic lineages were investigated.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)366-378
JournalCells Tissues Organs
Volume193
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2011

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