Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the properties of stem cells derived from "inflamed" and healthy periodontal ligament (PDL) tissues from patient-matched groups.
Material and methods: Patient-matched stem cells derived from root-attached "inflamed" and healthy PDL tissues from six donors, termed I-PDLSCs and H-PDLSCs, respectively, were investigated with regard to their stem cell properties, immunomodulatory effects and capacity to form robust cell sheets for therapeutic applications.
Results: We found that cells derived from both sources exhibited typical mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) characteristics. However, compared with H-PDLSCs, I-PDLSCs demonstrated an increased capacity to proliferate, a greater potential to migrate and a decreased capacity to differentiate into osteoblasts in vitro. When I-PDLSCs and H-PDLSCs were co-cultured with peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the MSCs derived from "inflamed" PDL tissues exhibited impaired immunomodulation. Although I-PDLSCs led to increased collagen type I, periostin and integrin β1 content in the matrix, the cell sheets formed by I-PDLSCs were dysfunctional due to their impaired osteogenic/chondrogenic differentiation and tissue regeneration.
Conclusions: These data provide additional evidence that I-PDLSCs are functionally compromised compared with H-PDLSCs. Nonetheless, their dominant abundance in the available tissues indicates that stem cells derived from damaged teeth extracted due to periodontitis warrant further exploration.
Keywords: cell-sheet engineering; immunomodulation; inflammation; mesenchymal stem cells; periodontal ligament.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.