Characterization of dental pulp stem/stromal cells of Huntington monkey tooth germs

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Brooke R. Snyder, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Pei-Hsun Cheng, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Jin Jing Yang, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Shang-Hsun Yang, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Anderson HC Huang, Kaohsiung Medical University; Anthony Chan, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2011-09-12
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2011 Snyder et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2121/12/39
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: BMC Cell Biology
• ISSN: 1471-2121
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 39
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 8
• Grant/Funding Information: Yerkes National Primate Research Center is supported by the base grant No.RR-00165 awarded by the NCRR/NIH; This study is supported by grant awarded by the NCRR/NIH (RR018827-04).
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Pathology; Biology, Genetics

Abstract

Background Dental pulp stem/stromal cells (DPSCs) are categorized as adult stem cells (ASCs) that retain multipotent differentiation capabilities. DPSCs can be isolated from individuals at any age and are considered to be true personal stem cells, making DPSCs one of the potential options for stem cell therapy. However, the properties of DPSCs from individuals with an inherited genetic disorder, such as Huntington's disease (HD), have not been fully investigated. Results To examine if mutant huntingtin (htt) protein impacts DPSC properties, we have established DPSCs from tooth germ of transgenic monkeys that expressed both mutant htt and green fluorescent protein (GFP) genes (rHD/G-DPSCs), and from a monkey that expressed only the GFP gene (rG-DPSCs), which served as a control. Although mutant htt and oligomeric htt aggregates were overtly present in rHD/G-DPSCs, all rHD/G-DPSCs and rG-DPSCs shared similar characteristics, including self-renewal, multipotent differentiation capabilities, expression of stemness and differentiation markers, and cell surface antigen profile. Conclusions Our results suggest that DPSCs from Huntington monkeys retain ASC properties. Thus DPSCs derived from individuals with genetic disorders such as HD could be a potential source of personal stem cells for therapeutic purposes.