The extracts of bredigite bioceramics enhanced the pluripotency of human dental pulp cells

Our plain-English summary of The extracts of bredigite bioceramics enhanced the pluripotency of human dental pulp cells, by L. Chen, L. Liu, C. Wu, et al (Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. Part a, 2017).

The study

• Authors: L. Chen, L. Liu, C. Wu, R. Yang, J. Chang, X. Wei
• Journal: Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. Part a
• Published: 2017;105(12):3465-3474
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Biomaterials have a profound effect on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, but few studies have reported the role of extracts from bioceramics in the regulation of stem cell pluripotency. The present study investigated the effects of bioceramics extracts, including silicate bredigite (Ca7 MgSi4 O16 ) and conventional β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), on the pluripotency and the multilineage differentiation potential of human dental pulp cells (hDPCs). Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), which is a known regulator of hDPCs pluripotency, was used as a reference. Bredigite extracts significantly promoted cell growth, proliferation, TERT expression and maintained hDPCs in a presenescent state. The extracts of bredigite significantly up-regulated the expression of pluripotency-related genes such as Stro1, Oct4 and Sox2, and further promoted the multilineage differentiation of hDPCs after odontogenic/adipogenic induction. The stimulation of bredigite extracts on hDPCs pluripotency was comparable to that of bFGF, whereas β-TCP extracts lacked these properties. Our results suggested for the first time that bredigite extracts enhance the pluripotency of dental-derived stem cells, paving the way for extended applications in regenerative medicine. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 3465-3474, 2017.

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In plain English

This article does not concern asbestos. It was a laboratory study of cells in dishes, not people. The authors took dental pulp cells from third molars of healthy people aged 12 to 25 in Guangzhou, China. They grew the cells in liquid that had soaked one of two ceramic powders: bredigite (calcium, magnesium and silicon) or beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP). A growth factor, bFGF, was used for comparison. Compared with untreated cells, cells given some bredigite dilutions multiplied more after 5 days. They also had higher mRNA levels of TERT, a gene the authors link to delaying cell aging, and less aging-cell staining at 50 mg/mL. Levels of the stem-cell markers Stro1, Oct4 and Sox2 were higher, with Oct4 highest at 50 mg/mL. After 21 days in special growth media, bredigite-treated cells showed more markers of tooth-forming and fat-forming cells. Beta-TCP extracts lacked most of these effects, though they raised LPL, a fat-cell marker. Some beta-TCP dilutions lowered Stro1 and Oct4. Bredigite extracts contained much more silicon. The authors concluded that bredigite extracts enhanced the stem-cell properties of these dental cells. The article stated no limitations.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: laboratory (in vitro) cell culture experiment
• Who was studied: Human dental pulp cells isolated from intact third molars extracted from healthy individuals aged 12 to 25 years at the Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; number of donors not stated
• Exposure: Extracts of bredigite (Ca7MgSi4O16) and beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) ceramic powders soaked in culture medium, at dilutions from 1.5625 to 100 mg/mL; bFGF at 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 ng/mL as a reference; no asbestos exposure was studied
• Main results:
  • Compared with control cells, proliferation was significantly increased after 5 days in the 6.25 and 12.5 mg/mL bredigite groups and the 1, 3, 5 and 10 ng/mL bFGF groups (p less than 0.05)
  • TERT mRNA was significantly increased in the 12.5 and 50 mg/mL bredigite groups and the 3 and 5 ng/mL bFGF groups compared with control (p less than 0.05), with no significant change in the beta-TCP groups
  • Staining for aged (senescent) cells was greatly reduced in the 10 ng/mL bFGF group and the 50 mg/mL bredigite group
  • The percentage of Stro1-positive cells at passages 2 and 7 was increased by bredigite at 50 and 12.5 mg/mL (p less than 0.05); it was decreased in the 50 mg/mL beta-TCP group
  • Oct4 mRNA increased with bredigite dose, highest at 50 mg/mL bredigite (p less than 0.05); 50 and 12.5 mg/mL beta-TCP lowered Oct4 mRNA
  • After odontogenic (tooth-forming) induction, the bFGF and bredigite groups had significantly higher DSPP and DMP-1 than control (p less than 0.05); the beta-TCP group showed no significant change
  • After adipogenic (fat-forming) induction, the bFGF and bredigite groups had significantly higher PPARγ-2 and LPL than control (p less than 0.05)
  • After adipogenic induction, the beta-TCP group had higher LPL than control (p less than 0.05) and showed enlarged lipid droplets
  • Silicon concentration was higher in bredigite extracts than in beta-TCP extracts or control medium (for example, 51.570 mg/L versus 0.958 mg/L at the 50 mg/mL extract, per Table 1)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that bredigite extracts enhanced the pluripotency (stem-cell properties) of dental-derived stem cells, which they said suggests potential use in regenerative medicine

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Tremolite.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: STEM, Silicate, Fibroblast.

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