Dental pulp stem cell therapy in ischaemic stroke: exploring the neuroprotective and -regenerative effects in vitro

Abstract

Ischaemic stroke can be defined as a neurological deficit of vascular origin. The disease is a major cause of disability and is ranked as the second leading cause of death. Current therapies are unable to sufficiently improve functional outcome in patients. Stem cell therapy is considered as a promising treatment strategy that aims to reduce neuronal damage and stimulate host repair. The goal of this study is to characterize the neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects of dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) in vitro. The neuroprotective capacity of DPSC was evaluated by performing an oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) survival assay on neuronal cells. Furthermore, neuroregenerative effects of DPSC were assessed by investigating the effect of conditioned medium of DPSC (CM-DPSC) on neural stem cell (NSC) migration. We showed that addition of CM-DPSC was unable to improve neuronal viability after OGD. In contrast, CM-DPSC significantly promoted NSC migration compared to CM of human dermal fibroblasts and control medium. In conclusion, the capacity of DPSC to exert neuroprotective effects in vitro could not be demonstrated yet. However, a first indication of the neuroregenerative capacity of DPSC in vitro was established. More elaborate research on the in vitro neurorestorative effects of DPSC has to be performed to gain more insight in the therapeutic potential of DPSC in ischaemic stroke.