Effects of MDP-calcium salts on the proliferation and odontogenic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells
Objective:To investigate the effects of methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate(MDP)-calcium salts on the prolif-eration and odontogenic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells(DPSCs).Methods:Three types of MDP-calcium salts were synthe-sized using different ratios of 10-MDP and CaCl2,and Human DPSCs were harvested and cultured in medium.The effect of different concentrations of MDP-calcium salts on cell proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assay.Alkaline phosphatase(ALP)activity was measured to screen the best concentration for subsequent experiments.Additionally,alizarin red staining,and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR)were employed to study the influence of a specific concentration of MDP-calcium salts on the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs.Results:A certain concentration range of MDP-calcium salts had no inhibitory effect on the pro-liferation of DPSCs.Compared with the control group,0.2 mg/mL was the optimal concentration of MDP-calcium salts in inducing ALP activity of DPSCs(P<0.05).Alizarin red staining results showed that 0.2 mg/mL MDP-2 calcium salts promoted the formation of calci-um nodules in DPSC 0.2 mg/mL MDP-1 calcium salts and 0.2 mg/mL MDP-2 calcium salts promoted the secretion of odontogenic dif-ferentiation marker dental matrix protein-1(DMP-1)(P<0.05).Additionally,0.2 mg/mL MDP-0.5 calcium salts and 0.2 mg/mL MDP-1 calcium saltsenhance the secretion of dentin sialophosphoprotein(DSPP)(P<0.05).Furthermore,0.2 mg/mL MDP-0.5 calci-um salts and 0.2 mg/mL MDP-2 calcium salts also enhanced the secretion of osteocalcin(OCN)(P<0.05).Lastly,0.2 mg/mL MDP-0.5 calcium salts,0.2 mg/mL MDP-1calcium salts and 0.2 mg/mL MDP-2 calcium salts stimulated the secretion of runt-related tran-scription factor 2(RUNX2)(P<0.05).Conclusions:MDP-calcium salts can not inhibit the proliferation of DPSCs within a certain concentration range.0.2 mg/mL MDP-calcium salts can promote the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs.