Human Periodontal Ligament Derived Progenitor Cells : Effect of STRO-1 Cell Sorting and Wnt3a Treatment on Cell Behavior

Abstract EN

Objectives.

STRO-1 positive periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) and unsorted PDLCs have demonstrated potential for periodontal regeneration, but the comparison between unsorted cells and the expanded STRO-1 sorted cells has never been reported.

Additionally, Wnt3a is involved in cell proliferation thus may benefit in vitro PDLC expansion.

The aim was to evaluate the effect of STRO-1 cell sorting and Wnt3a treatment on cell behavior of human PDLCs (hPDLCs).

Materials and Methods.

STRO-1 positive hPDLCs were sorted and the sorted cells were expanded and compared with their unsorted parental cells.

Thereafter, hPDLCs were treated with or without Wnt3a and the cell proliferation, self-renewal, and osteogenic differentiation were evaluated.

Results.

No differences were measured between the expanded STRO-1-sorted cells and unsorted parental cells in terms of proliferation, CFU, and mineralization capacity.

Wnt3a enhanced the proliferation and self-renewal ability of hPDLCs significantly as displayed by higher DNA content values, a shorter cell population doubling time, and higher expression of the self-renewal gene Oct4.

Moreover, Wnt3a promoted the expansion of hPDLCs for 5 passages without affecting cell proliferation, CFU, and osteogenic capacity.

Conclusions.

Expanded STRO-1-sorted hPDLCs showed no superiority compared to their unsorted parental cells.

On the other hand, Wnt3a promotes the efficient hPDLC expansion and retains the self-renewal and osteogenic differentiation capacity.