Isolation and Culture of Postnatal Stem Cells from Deciduous Teeth

Background: Currently, degenerative diseases represent a public health problem; therefore, the development and implementation of strategies to fully or partially recover of damaged tissues has a special interest in the biomedical field. Therapeutic strategies based on mesenchymal stem cells transplantation from dental pulp have been proposed as an alternative. Purpose: To develop a mesenchymal stem cells culture isolated from dental pulp of deciduous teeth. Methods: The mesenchymal stem cells isolation was performed from dental pulp of two deciduous canines, freshly extracted with therapeutic indication. Specimens were cultured in D-MEM medium with 20% FBS at 37 °C and 5% CO2. The medium was changed every three days. 80-90% confluence was achieved after three weeks. Cells were stained with DAPI and STRO-1 and analyzed through flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. Results: The analysis showed that adherent cells had a fusiform fibroblast-like morphology and colony forming units (CFUs) were observed. 17% of the whole population was STRO-1+ and 26% of the larger and more complex population was positive to this antigen. Additionally, STRO-1+ cells were localized preferential in UFCs. Conclusions: The protocol described here could be used to enriching mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp extracted from deciduous teeth and as a starting point for future therapeutic trials and their application in tissue regeneration. KEYWORDS cultured cells; stem cells; deciduous teeth