In Vitro Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Jawbone Compared with Dental Tissue

Autologous bone transplantation is the current gold standard for reconstruction of jawbone defects. Bone regeneration using mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) is an interesting alternative to improve the current techniques, which necessitate a second site of surgery resulting in donor site morbidity. In this study, we compared the osteogenic ability of jawbone MSC (JB-MSC) with MSC from tissues with neural crest origin, namely, the dental pulp, apical papilla and periodontal ligament. All four types of MSC were isolated from the same patient (n = 3 donors) to exclude inter-individual variations. The MSC growth and differentiation properties were characterized. The osteogenic differentiation potential in each group of cells was assessed quantitatively to determine if there were any differences between the cell types. All cells expressed the MSC-associated surface markers CD73, CD90, CD105, and CD146 and were negative for CD11b, CD19, CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR. All cell types proliferated at similar rates, exhibited similar clonogenic activity and could differentiate into adipocytes and osteoblasts. An alkaline phosphatase assay, OsteoImage™ assay for mineralization and qRT-PCR measuring the genes runx2, ALP and OCN, indicated that there were no significant differences in the osteogenic differentiation ability between the various MSCs. In conclusion, we show that from a small segment of jawbone it is possible to isolate sufficient quantities of MSC and that these cells can easily be expanded and differentiated into osteoblasts. JB-MSC appear to be good candidates for future bone regeneration applications in the craniofacial region.