Project R-2683

The role of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC) in angiogenesis and bone tissue engineering. (Research)

The use of stem cells is a very promising strategy in the field of bone tissue regeneration. While the utilization of embryonic stem cells faces major technical and ethical difficulties, attempts have started to apply adult stem cells. Recently, human adult stem cells isolated from tooth pulp (hDPSC) have been shown to be multipotent stem cells, able to differentiate into bone tissue. The success of bone tissue engineering depends on oxygen and nutrient transport to the implanted cells. Thus, an adequate formation of blood vessels (= angiogenesis) around the implanted tissue is indispensible for the survival of newly formed tissue. Therefore, my project aims to study the blood vessel formation induced by hDPSC in various in vivo and in vitro models and to identify the angiogenic proteins produced by hDPSC. The second goal of my research is to ameliorate the blood supply of bone tissue grafts. For this purpose, the hDPSC will be first differentiated into endothelial cells in vitro. Next, co-culture systems of endothelial-differentiated hDPSC and undifferentiated hDPSC in vivo will be investigated and the blood vessel formation in these cocultures will be compared to cultures with undifferentiated stem cells alone. The information obtained from this research project may help to support the possibility of using hDPSC for mineralized tissue engineering.

01 October 2010 - 30 September 2014