Research about derivation of iPS cells from old patients' dental pulp cells

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23792328
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Surgical dentistry
• Research Institution: Gifu University
• Principal Investigator: IIDA Kazuki 岐阜大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (30585237)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 再生医療 / 歯髄細胞 / iPS細胞 / 低酸素

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Hypoxia enhances the reprogramming efficiency of human dermal fibroblasts to become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Because we showed previously that hypoxia facilitates the isolation and maintenance of human dental pulp cells (DPCs), we examined here whether it promotes the reprogramming of DPCs to become iPSCs. Unlike dermal fibroblasts, early and transient hypoxia (3% O2) induced the transition of DPCs to iPSCs by 3.3- to 5.1-fold compared with normoxia (21% O2). The resulting iPSCs closely resembled embryonic stem cells as well as iPSCs generated in normoxia, as judged by morphology and expression of stem cell markers. Therefore, we conclude that hypoxia, when optimized for cell type, is a simple and useful tool to enhance the reprogramming of somatic cells to become iPSCs.

Free Research Field

口腔外科学