Dental Pulp Pluripotent Stem Cell Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for obtaining pluripotent stem cells, particularly from bone marrow, are complex, inefficient, and involve high risks and costs, limiting their availability and applicability in regenerative therapies.
Innovation Solution
Dental pulp is identified as a source of pluripotent stem cells that express specific markers (CD13, SSEA4, OCT3/4, and CD105) and can differentiate into tissues from all three germ layers, with a culture medium optimized to include LIF, EGF, and PDGF for growth and proliferation, facilitating easier extraction and reduced risk compared to bone marrow methods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pluripotent stem cells are obtained from bone marrow, then pluripotent cells can be obtained for therapy, but the process is complex, inefficient, and involves high risks and costs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts pluripotent stem cells from dental pulp tissue, which is much more accessible than bone marrow. The procedure involves removing the pulp from extracted teeth through simple enzymatic digestion with collagenase, avoiding the complex bone puncture and aspiration procedures required for bone marrow harvesting. This extraction from an alternative, more accessible source resolves the contradiction between obtaining reliable pluripotent cells and avoiding process complexity.
2Reliability
If pluripotent stem cells are obtained from bone marrow, then pluripotent cells can be obtained for therapy, but the risks and costs are high
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts stem cells from dental pulp obtained from routinely extracted teeth, which eliminates the need for separate surgical procedures, general anesthesia, and specialized equipment required for bone marrow extraction. The dental pulp can be obtained during routine dental procedures, significantly reducing patient risk, procedural cost, and complexity while maintaining therapeutic applicability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes dental pulp from teeth that are being extracted anyway for dental reasons. This transforms waste material (extracted teeth) into a valuable source of stem cells, eliminating the need for dedicated extraction procedures and reducing overall costs while maintaining therapeutic value.
3Productivity
If stem cells are extracted from bone marrow, then pluripotent cells are obtained, but the extraction process is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the mechanical procedure of bone puncture and aspiration with a chemical/enzymatic method. Dental pulp is digested using collagenase enzyme, which breaks down the extracellular matrix and releases stem cells into suspension. This chemical substitution simplifies the procedure, eliminates the need for specialized puncture equipment and manual aspiration techniques, and improves both efficiency and ease of extraction.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1D
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The present invention relates to pluripotent stem cells obtained from the dental pulp of patients of different ages, the invention furthermore comprises cultures of said cells, means for obtaining them and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them, as well as their application in tissue regeneration.