Human-mouse tooth seeds advance bioteeth research

Biologists at King's College London have combined human and mouse tissue to create bioteeth which can form true roots.

The research was exploring ways to generate immature teeth (sometimes called tooth primordia) which mimic those found in human embryos. The immature teeth take the form of cell pellets which can then be transplanted into an adult jaw where they develop normally into functional teeth.

According to Paul Sharpe, an expert in craniofacial development and stem cell biology at King's College London: "Epithelial cells derived from adult human gum tissue are capable of responding to tooth inducing signals from embryonic tooth mesenchyme in an appropriate way to contribute to tooth crown and root formation and give rise to relevant differentiated cell types, following in vitro culture."

What that basically means is that mouse mesenchyme (a type of undifferentiated connective tissue) can be combined with epithelial cells created using human gum tissue. The mesenchyme can then tell the rest of the cells when to start creating a tooth and the result is little tooth seeds which can grow to form real teeth with real roots. Or at least 20 percent of them can given a combination of in vitro culture and, after seven days, a home in a mouse kidney.

Root formation is a big problem in the world of bioteeth as current tooth implants lack the ability to create true roots and therefore cause rubbing. Finding an abundant source of adult cells which can be used to generate bioteeth would go a long way in solving the issue. This also means investigating whether any forms of adult mesenchymal cells can be used in place of embryo cells during the growth process.

"These easily accessible epithelial cells are thus a realistic source for consideration in human biotooth formation," said Sharpe. "The next major challenge is to identify a way to culture adult human mesenchymal cells to be tooth-inducing, as at the moment we can only make embryonic mesenchymal cells do this."

More here:
Human-mouse tooth seeds advance bioteeth research