Dental stem cells in angiogenesis and tissue engineering

Abstract

Stem cells are an ideal cell source to use in tissue engineering as they are able to differentiate into multiple cell lineages and tissues. Besides cells, a scaffold and blood vessels are required in this promising technique for treating the loss or failure of tissues or organs. The scaffold provides a three-dimensional support desirable for the adhesion, proliferation, migration and differentiation of the responding cells. In this study, titanium scaffolds will be used as they are biocompatible, have a high strength to weight ratio and are highly corrosion resistant. Blood vessels are necessary for the delivery of oxygen, nutrients and inductive signals to the implanted cells. These blood vessels can be formed by means of angiogenesis. Stem cells can promote this by either differentiating into endothelial cells or by excreting pro-angiogenic factors. In this study, three different dental stem cell (DSC) populations are explored and compared to investigate their angiogenic properties,