2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Dentin regeneration by dental pulp stem cells with adipokine

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20791390
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Conservative dentistry
Research Institution	Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
Principal Investigator	YOSHIYUKI Yasuda Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 歯学部, 准教授 (80405670)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2009
Keywords	象牙質再生 / 歯髄細胞 / アディポネクチン / 間葉系幹細胞
Research Abstract	Adiponectin is a blood hormone that is abundantly secreted by adipocytes, and is known to play an important role in the regulation of blood glucose levels through the mediation of adiponectin receptors 1 and 2 (AR1 and AR2, respectively). In this study, to evaluate the usefulness of adiponectin as a dental pulp-conserving agent, we investigated the function of adiponectin in dental pulp cells. RT-PCR analysis showed the expression of both AR1 and AR2 in dental pulp cells. Western blot analysis revealed AR1 protein expression in dental pulp cells. Alizarin Red staining showed that after the addition of 10μg/ml of adiponectin to the culture medium, the formation of mineralized nodules was significantly increased on Day 12. Treatment of dental pulp cells with adiponectin induced the expression of dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) gene on Day 8. These results indicate that adiponectin promotes mineralization by inducing DSPP expression in dental pulp cells.