Extracellular matrix administration as a potential therapeutic strategy for periodontal ligament regeneration

The current strategies employed for the treatment of connective tissue disease include the application of stem cells, the use of functional molecules that can reorganize tissue integrity and cellular activities to recover connective tissue function. Approaches to the regeneration of periodontal tissue, which is the tooth-supporting connective tissue, have made some progress recently and provide a useful experimental model for the evaluation of future strategies to treat connective tissue diseases such as periodontal disease.

The ultimate goal of periodontal tissue regeneration is to reconstruct the ligament structure that will sustain the required mechanical force to connect with mineralized tissues such as cementum and alveolar bone. In this review, we discuss the proposed use of extracellular matrix (ECM) administration therapy as an additional therapeutic strategy to stem cell transplantation and cytokine administration in the current field of periodontal tissue regeneration therapy.

Although various available tissue engineering technologies can now achieve periodontal tissue regeneration, ECM administration therapy is likely to play an essential future role in the development and regeneration of periodontal tissue and attenuate the signaling events that mediate tissue degradation. Hence, ECM administration could serve as a novel technology in periodontal tissue regeneration and also as a viable approach to alleviating connective tissue disorders such as Marfan's syndrome.