Trial to establish the vitrification of periodontal ligament stem cell spheroids that maintain stemness

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K17096
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 57040:Regenerative dentistry and dental engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu Dental College
• Principal Investigator: Sano Kotaro 九州歯科大学, 歯学部, 助教 (10852486)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 歯周病 / 再生療法 / スフェロイド / 歯根膜幹細胞 / Vitrification

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The morphology of periodontal ligament stem cell spheroids frozen by the vitrification or the slow freezing maintained the same spherical shape as 7, 30, and 90 days before freezing. However, the longer the frozen storage period, and the higher the ratio of apoptotic cells in the slow freezing compared to the vitrification.
The survival rate of spheroids frozen by the vitrification was improved compared to those frozen by the slow freezing. The changes in expression of stemness marker and marker of osteogenic/adipogenic/chondrogenic differentiation were not significant compared to before freezing, althought the expression was down-regulated when frozen by the slow freezing compared to the vitrification.

Free Research Field

歯周病学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

歯根膜幹細胞を3次元的に培養した歯根膜幹細胞スフェロイドは、歯周組織再生に有効であることが報告されている。しかし、スフェロイドを獲得するまでには時間と工程を要する。本研究結果より、ガラス化法により歯根膜幹細胞スフェロイドの性質を維持した長期保存が実現できる可能性が示唆された。多分化能および組織再生能を維持したスフェロイドを長期凍結保存し、即時利用可能となる環境を整備できれば、再生医療の発展への寄与が期待される。