introduction C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 4 9 , Nº 11
The 20th Anniversary of Dental Stem Cells Rungnapa Yang Warotayanont, DDS, PhD
GUEST EDITOR Rungnapa Yang Warotayanont, DDS, PhD, received her dental degree from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and completed her doctoral degree at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC with a focus on craniofacial molecular biology. Her interest in stem cell research began at USC, and she has worked with Dr. Songtao Shi, the pediatric dentist scientist who discovered dental pulp stem cells. Her research was in enamel matrix protein as well as the characterization of dental pulp stem cells. Dr. Yang continued her specialty training in pediatric dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco, and continued her research focusing on the clinical translation aspect of dental stem cells. Dr. Yang is a board-certified pediatric dentist and practices in Mountain View, Calif. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
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ince the outbreak of COVID-19, our dental offices have focused on new office safety protocols, having all personal protective equipment ready, installing new air purifier systems and buying extraoral high-velocity suction, while checking on availability of the vaccination and getting vaccinated. As scientists and clinicians work toward finding the effective treatment and cure for COVID-19, little did we, the dentists, know that the cells isolated from extracted teeth in our dental offices could be one of the most powerful therapeutic approaches to treat COVID-19 patients.1 Stem cells were discovered in tooth tissue over two decades ago. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were the first dental stem cells identified in human permanent teeth and primary teeth.2 These cells are characterized as stem cells because they possess the ability to self-renew and to differentiate into cells of various lineages. Stem cells from orofacial tissue have subsequently been identified in many other sites such as the periodontal ligament, gingival tissue, apical papilla and alveolar tissue. We can even find stem cells in an exfoliated deciduous tooth.3
Stem cells isolated from the oral cavity are derived from the cranial neural crest. These stem cells share many characteristics with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from other parts of the body, such as bone marrow and adipose tissue. Of particular interest, DPSCs have been extensively studied and characterized due to their advantages over other MSCs in many aspects. DPSCs are easily accessible in extracted teeth, have favorable regenerative property, possess unique angioneurogenic potential, have high proliferative ability and are anti-inflammatory. For medical applications, DPSCs are a prime candidate for cell-based therapy of many cardiovascular conditions including stroke, myocardial infarction and spinal cord injury.4 More recently, DPSCs have emerged as a potential treatment option for COVID-19. In recent clinical trials, the cells were injected intravenously in COVID-19 patients and showed promising outcomes, as they were shown to deregulate cytokine and promote regeneration of damaged lung tissue.1,5 There are increasing numbers of clinical trials for evaluation of the therapeutic property of various stem N OVEMBER 2 0 2 1
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