Dental Pulp From Human Exfoliated Deciduous Teeth-Derived Stromal Cells With Demonstrated Neuronal Potential: In Vivo And In Vitro Studies

BACKGROUND Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have the potential for self-renewal and differentiation in different tissues, characteristics that encourage their use in regenerative medicine. Dental tissue MSCs are easy to collect, have the same embryonic origin as neurons and have neuronal markers that allow their use in treating neurodegenerative diseases. Human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED)-derived stromal cells are considered immature and present positive expression of pluripotency and neuronal markers. Studies have shown that after induction of neuronal differentiation in vitro, SHED increased the expression of neuronal markers such as βIII-tubulin, Nestin, GFAP, NeuN, and NFM, demonstrating the potential use of these cells in preclinical studies. The results of this review reflect the consensus that in diseases such as spinal cord injury, cerebral ischaemia, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, SHED could function in the suppression of the inflammatory response, neuroprotection, and neuronal replacement. CONCLUSION For these cells to be used in large-scale clinical trials, standardization of the isolation techniques and the neuronal induction medium used are necessary. The potential of SHED to induce neuronal differentiation is evident, demonstrating that this resource is promising and shows great potential for use in future preclinical and clinical trials of neurodegenerative diseases.