2018 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

Dentin regeneration by dental pulp stem cells using nephronectin

Research Project

Project/Area Number	17K17139
Research Institution	Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
Principal Investigator	唐佳北海道医療大学, 歯学部, 助教 (80755992)
Project Period (FY)	2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
Keywords	Nephronectin / dentin regeneration / iMatrix411 / iMatrix511
Outline of Annual Research Achievements	The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nephronectin (Npnt) in human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). The results found Npnt mediates hDPSCs adhesion and spreading partially via RGD motif. Npnt enhanced the mRNA expression of ITGA1, ITGA4, ITGA7 and ITGB1 on day five. Npnt downregulated DSPP but significantly upregulated BSP at day 28. Moreover, Npnt and FCOL1 accelerated the matrix mineralization in hDPSCs. The findings implicated Npnt would be favorable to recruit hDPSCs and conducive to mineralization in hDPSCs. The combination of Npnt with hDPSCs may offer a promising approach for hard tissue regeneration.
Current Status of Research Progress	Current Status of Research Progress 2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned. Reason The hard tissue forming capacity of Npnt in hDPSCs has already been demonstrated by our research results. It is thus believed our research is progressing smoothly.
Strategy for Future Research Activity	In the future work, we intend to synthesize several artificial RGD-containing peptides derived from Npnt amino acid sequence and compare the hard tissue inducing capacities among them, in an effort to determine the most promising one to be applied in the in vivo animal study.
Causes of Carryover	Due to the maternity and child-care leave, the PI extend her research period from two years to a three-year duration.