A recent discovery may push dental stem cell research to a new level.
Researchers at Inserm and Paris Descartes University isolated dental stem cell lines and discovered the natural mechanism that they use to repair lesions in the teeth. This discovery could make way for unprecedented therapeutic strategies to mobilize resident dental stem cells and enable their natural ability to repair.
The information appears in the journal Stem Cells.
The research team for this study successfully extracted and isolated tooth stem cells by working on the pulp from a mouse molar. Based on this information, the research team managed to conduct a full analysis of the five specific receptors for dopamine and serotonin.
The fact that these receptors were there meant that these stem cells could respond to the presence of dopamine and serotonin in the event of a lesion. The researchers then were curious as to what was the source of the neurotransmitters, which they later found out were blood platelets. These neurotransmitters recruit the stem cells to repair the tooth after they are initially released. The final piece of evidence came when they realized the dental repair did not occur in rats with modified platelets that don’t produce serotonin or dopamine.
The researchers later attempted to create categories for the various receptors they discovered. One of the five receptors had no impact on the repair process while the other four did.
Based on the information from this study, the researchers can now move to analyzing human stem cells to try to find new methods for repairing teeth.
