Study of the effects of phototherapy with low intensity laser on human dental pulp stem cells from deciduous teeth

• Grant number: 09/11664-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2010
• End date: June 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Endodontics
• Principal Investigator: Marcia Martins Marques
• Grantee: Marcia Martins Marques
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The dental pulp is a connective tissue composed of extracellular matrix and several cell types, such as fibroblasts, nervous cells, vascular and undifferentiated cells. Studies have shown that the dental pulp undifferentiated cells can act as adult multipotent stem cells, capable of differentiate into diverse cell types. The isolation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) is of importance due their potential for tissue engineering purpose, especially for tissue production, such as dentin, cartilage and bone. The phototherapy with low intensity lasers (LPT) is capable of biomodulating cell growth, cell viability and differentiation of cell types as fibroblasts, osteoblasts and endothelial cells, among others. It is noteworthy that the rate of growth, cell viability and the capacity of expansion of the DPSC are of importance, especially when the purpose of the DPSC cultivation is the implantation in human organs during cell therapies. Some in vitro studies examining the effects of LPT in stem cells of mesenchymal origin, such as bone marrow stem cells and those derived from adipose tissue; however, little is known about the effects of this therapy on stem cells from human dental pulp. The understanding of how LPT could influence growth, viability and are differentiation stage of DPSC will allow the future use of this therapy in studies related to regeneration of dental and osseous tissues , among others. Therefore, the objective of this project is to evaluate the influence of LPT in the cell proliferation and expression of stem cell markers. More specifically, we will evaluate the influence of different parameters of LPT on the biological behavior of stem cell cultures originate from human dental pulp from deciduous teeth. Thus, our goal is to obtain DPSC cultures. Then, we will determine the stem cell markers of such cell lineages using the following techniques: immunofluorescence, flow citometry, and Western blot. The cell proliferation patterns of the cell line will also be evaluated. After this characterization, the influence of the different parameters of the LPT on the expression of stem cell markers, as well as on the proliferation patters of the cell lineages will be statistically compared (p