Dental Pulp Stem Cells : Hepatocyte Differentiation in Animal-free Serum

Liver transplantation is an attractive therapeutic approach for liver dysfunction yet it has certain boundaries such as donor shortage and possibility of rejection. Implementation of stem cells in regenerative medicine offered a promising alternative treatment for liver dysfunction. Current studies have shown dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) have potential to differentiate into endoderm lineage. However, most of the stem cells were usually grown in medium containing animal serum such as fetal bovine serum (FBS) that has allergenic potential and carries the risk of transmitting viral to the cells and thus become a barrier for clinical application. Therefore, human platelet lysate (HPL) have been suggested to be used in stem cells culture as an alternative to FBS as it have a lot of natural growth factors. Objective: The aims of this study were to isolate and examined the characterizations of hepatic differentiation of human DPSCs cultured in medium containing FBS and HPL. Method: The growth kinetic and characterization including trilineages differentiation, immunofluorescence, immunophenotype, qualitative and quantitative PCR of DPSCs expanded in FBS and HPL were demonstrated. The hepatic differentiation of DPSCs cultured in FBS and HPL were evaluated based on morphological formation, characterizations, Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) staining and functional assay such as urea secretion. Result: DPSCs cultured in FBS and HPL showed different growth kinetic rate and both DPSCs possessed ability to form hepatocyte. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the potential of DPSCs to form hepatocyte cells in animal-free serum medium as hope for alternative treatment for liver diseases.