Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
Stromal phenotype of dental follicle stem cells
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It has been suggested that stem/progenitor cells exist in dental tissue. This study identified adult mesenchymal stem/stromal cell-like populations in the dental follicle of human impacted third molars.The immunohistochemical analysis, of dental follicle using known stem-cell markers: Cytokeratins (AE1-AE3), Smooth Muscle Actin, Ki-67, CD34, CD44, CD45, CD56, and CD133. A positive reaction for at least one of the markers typical of stromal phenotype (CD56, CD44 and CD271) was observed in seven cases . Interestingly, all positive cases showed coexpression of CD44 and CD56, except for one case which was CD56 positive and CD44 negative. Immunohistochemical reaction was negative in all 27 cases for Ki-67, Cytokeratins, Smooth Muscle Actin, CD34, CD133 and CD45. The association: negative for CD34, CD45, CD133, and positive for CD44, CD56 (markers of a subpopulation of stem cells from bone marrow) suggests these may be quiescent mesenchymal stem cells, a hypothesis supported by the negativity of Ki67 (proliferative index). Our results are compatible with the identification of immature fibroblast cells with phenotypic features of stromal stem cells in the dental follicle.