Effects of mineral trioxide aggregate on the differentiation of rat dental pulp cells

The effect of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) on the odontoblast-like differentiation of pulp cells was evaluated using heat-shock protein 25 (hsp25) as a marker for odontoblast differentiation. The cells were cultured with tooth-colored MTA or calcium hydroxide-containing cement (Dycal). The effects of the materials on the pulp cells were observed using a confocal laser scanning microscope. The cells were labelled immunocytochemically using polyclonal antibodies against hsp25 and actin. The mRNA expression of hsp25 and dspp in the pulp cells at 2 days were examined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Most of the cells cultured with MTA showed an intense immunolabelling for hsp25 and the mRNA expressions of hsp25 and dspp at 2 days were higher than those cultured with Dycal. These findings indicate that MTA is an effective pulp capping material and is able to induce the differentiation of odontoblast-like cells and the formation of reparative tertiary dentin with minimum apoptosis.