A new studyhas differentiated dental stem cells, further demonstrating theirplasticity, into dystrophin-producing multinucleated muscle cells. Theresearch, published in PLoS One, was led by Jeremy Mao, DDS, PhD,professor and director of the Tissue Engineering and RegenerativeMedicine Laboratory (TERML) at Columbia University Medical Center.
Mao utilized myogenic progenitor cells derived from dental stem cellsto demonstrate significantly higher numbers of dystrophin-producingcells than the parent heterogeneous stems cells from which they werederived. The findings suggest therapeutic potential for muscleregeneration and have implications for disorders such as MuscularDystrophy, in which the body’s inability to produce dystrophin resultsin health complications.
According to the study’s authors, the latest research, along withrecently published research demonstrating the ability of dental stemcells to differentiate into bone, myocardiocytes (heart muscle), andinsulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, supports the wisdom of bankingstem cells.
