Chondrogenic Potential of Dental-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

The field of tissue engineering has revolutionized the world in organ and tissue regeneration. With the robust research among regenerative medicine experts and researchers, the plausibility of regenerating cartilage has come into the limelight. For cartilage tissue engineering, orthopedic surgeons and orthobiologists use the mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) of various origins along with the cytokines, growth factors, and scaffolds. The least utilized MSCs are of dental origin, which are the richest sources of stromal and progenitor cells. There is a paradigm shift towards the utilization of dental source MSCs in chondrogenesis and cartilage regeneration. Dental-derived MSCs possess similar phenotypes and genotypes like other sources of MSCs along with specific markers such as dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein (DMP) -1, dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteopontin (OPN), bone sialoprotein (BSP), and STRO-1. Concerning chondrogenicity, there is literature with marginal use of dental-derived MSCs. Various studies provide evidence for in-vitro and in-vivo chondrogenesis by dental-derived MSCs. With such evidence, clinical trials must be taken up to support or refute the evidence for regenerating cartilage tissues by dental-derived MSCs. This article highlights the significance of dental-derived MSCs for cartilage tissue regeneration.