Directed differentiation of Dental Pulp Pluripotent-like Stem Cells into Hepatocyte-like Cells

Abstract: Liver diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality. Dental pulp pluripo-tent- like stem cells (DPPSC) are of a considerable promise in tissue engineering and regen-erative medicine as a new source of tissue-specific cells; therefore, this study aims to demonstrate their ability to generate functional hepatocyte-like cells in vitro. Cells were differentiated on a collagen scaffolds in serum free media supplemented with growth fac-tors and cytokines to recapitulate liver development. At day 5, the differentiated DPPSC cells expressed the endodermal markers FOXA1 and FOXA2. Then, the cells were derived into the hepatic lineage generating hepatocyte-like cells. In addition to the associated morphological changes, the cells expressed the hepatic genes HNF6, AFP. The terminally differentiated hepatocyte-like cells expressed the liver functional proteins albumin and CYP3A4. In this study, we report an efficient serum-free protocol to differentiate DPPSCs into functional hepatocyte-like cells. Our approach promotes the use of DPPSCs as a new source of adult stem cells for prospective use in liver regenerative medicine.