The similarity between human embryonic stem cell-derived epithelial cells and ameloblast-lineage cells

This study aimed to compare epithelial cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to human ameloblast-lineage cells (ALCs), as a way to determine their potential use as a cell source for ameloblast regeneration. Induced by various concentrations of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), retinoic acid (RA) and lithium chloride (LiCl) for 7 days, hESCs adopted cobble-stone epithelial phenotype (hESC-derived epithelial cells (ES-ECs)) and expressed cytokeratin 14. Compared with ALCs and oral epithelial cells (OE), ES-ECs expressed amelogenesis-associated genes similar to ALCs. ES-ECs were compared with human fetal skin epithelium, human fetal oral buccal mucosal epithelial cells and human ALCs for their expression pattern of cytokeratins as well. ALCs had relatively high expression levels of cytokeratin 76, which was also found to be upregulated in ES-ECs. Based on the present study, with the similarity of gene expression with ALCs, ES-ECs are a promising potential cell source for regeneration, which are not available in erupted human teeth for regeneration of enamel.