Objective: To identify the existence of the dental pulp stem cells in Beagle's pulp tissue by using the same methods of isolating and culturing the human dental pulp stem cells.
Methods: Pulp tissue was extirpated from the crown and root of the Beagle's healthy permanent tooth, and digested by dispase for cell culture. Classical identification methods of mesenchymal stem cells including observation of biological characteristics, capacity of multilineage differentiation, and expression of specific markers associated with mesenchymal stem cells were applied to verify the existence of Beagle's dental pulp stem cells.
Results: A clonogenic, rapidly proliferative population of cells were isolated from Beagle' pulp tissue. Under the same culture condition, the Beagle's dental pulp stem cells had a significant higher colony-forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) formation rate (150 colony/10(4) cells) than the dental pulp cells derived from the human pulp tissue (60 colony/10(4) cells). These cells also had the multilineage differentiation ability. They could be induced to form mineralized nodules, lipid droplets and chondrocytes. Furthermore these cells expressed the mesenchymal stem cell markers including STRO-1, CD146, alkaline phosphatase, nestin, vimentin and cytokeratin-18.
Conclusions: There are dental pulp stem cells in the Beagle's pulp tissue.