Metallothionein: a possible new marker for human dental pulp stem cells

Abstract

Human dental pulp stem cells (HDPSC’s) is a term used for the remaining mesenchymal stem cell population in adult teeth. It has already been described that these cells exhibit odontogenic capacities when these cells are explanted into immunocompromised mice. They create a dentin-pulp like complex and in this way their use in tissue engineering and tooth regeneration seems very promising. However, there is still a lack of specific markers to identify this cell type. In this study, we investigated the immunoreactivity of HDPSC’s for metallothionein (MT), a Cystein-rich, low molecular weight protein. MT has the capacity to bind both physiological (Zn, Cu, Se,...) and xenobiotic (Cd, Hg, Ag,...) heavy metals through the thiol group of its cysteine residues. Furthermore, the immunoreactivity fot MT was tested in human pulp tissue and human bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells.