The effect of strontium chloride on human periodontal ligament stem cells

The complete repair of periodontal structures remains an exciting challenge that prompts researchers to develop new treatments to restore the periodontium. Recent research has suggested strontium ion to be an attractive candidate to improve osteogenic activity. In this study, we have isolated a clonal finite cell line derived from human periodontal ligament (PDL) in order to assess whether and in which way different doses of SrCl₂ (from 0.5 to 500 μg/ml) can influence both the proliferation and the mineralization process, for future application in oral diseases. PDL cells were cloned by dilution plating technique and characterized by FACS. Cell proliferation analysis and mineralization were performed by [³H]-thymidine incorporation and spectrofluorometric assay. Results have evidenced that the higher SrCl₂ concentrations tested, from 25 to 500 μg/ml, have increased the proliferation activity after only 24 h of treatment. Interestingly, the same higher concentrations have decreased the mineralization, which was conversely increased by the lower ones, from 0.5 to 10 μg/ml. Our findings suggest the possible use of SrCl₂ in appropriate delivery systems that release, at different time points, the specific dose, depending on the biological response that we want to induce on periodontal ligament stem cells, providing a more efficient periodontal regeneration.