2014年7月29日讯 /生物谷BIOON/--近日，瑞典卡罗林斯卡医学院研究人员发现，牙齿软组织内的干细胞有一个意想不到的来源，即神经。研究结果发表在Nature杂志上，有助于揭示齿如何形成，如何成长，如何能自我修复。
我们的健康和生活质量与我们的牙齿健康密切相关，随着年龄的增长，我们的牙齿变得更容易受到感染，磨损和损坏，保持良好的口腔卫生是很重要的。
新研究发现，牙齿的软组织部分储备有干细胞。这些干细胞能够通过协助牙齿软、硬组织更新，修复牙齿。科学家长久以来一直在讨论这些干细胞的来源，通过研究老鼠的牙齿，这项新的研究已经能够绘制出这些干细胞的命运。
研究已经确定了一个以前未知类型的干细胞，来源于牙齿神经。 研究人员发现，来源于牙齿神经的年轻干细胞（起初是神经支持细胞或者神经胶质细胞的一部分）在胎儿发育的早期阶段离开牙齿神经。干细胞改变它们的\"身份”，成为牙髓中的结缔组织和成牙本质细胞。
现在，成人没有生长新牙齿的可能性，但这种新类型的干细胞的发现是未来实现牙齿新生的一个重要步骤。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1038/nature13536
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Glial origin of mesenchymal stem cells in a tooth model system
Nina Kaukua, Maryam Khatibi Shahidi, Chrysoula Konstantinidou, Vyacheslav Dyachuk, Marketa Kaucka, Alessandro Furlan, Zhengwen An, Longlong Wang, Isabell Hultman, Lars hrlund-Richter, Hans Blom, Hjalmar Brismar, Natalia Assaife Lopes, Vassilis Pachnis, Ueli Suter, Hans Clevers, Irma Thesleff, Paul Sharpe, Patrik Ernfors, Kaj Fried Igor Adameyko
Mesenchymal stem cells occupy niches in stromal tissues where they provide sources of cells for specialized mesenchymal derivatives during growth and repair1. The origins of mesenchymal stem cells have been the subject of considerable discussion, and current consensus holds that perivascular cells form mesenchymal stem cells in most tissues. The continuously growing mouse incisor tooth offers an excellent model to address the origin of mesenchymal stem cells. These stem cells dwell in a niche at the tooth apex where they produce a variety of differentiated derivatives. Cells constituting the tooth are mostly derived from two embryonic sources: neural crest ectomesenchyme and ectodermal epithelium2. It has been thought for decades that the dental mesenchymal stem cells3 giving rise to pulp cells and odontoblasts derive from neural crest cells after their migration in the early head and formation of ectomesenchymal tissue4, 5. Here we show that a significant population of mesenchymal stem cells during development, self-renewal and repair of a tooth are derived from peripheral nerve-associated glia. Glial cells generate multipotent mesenchymal stem cells that produce pulp cells and odontoblasts. By combining a clonal colour-coding technique6 with tracing of peripheral glia, we provide new insights into the dynamics of tooth organogenesis and growth.
