Dentonin, a Fragment of MEPE, Enhanced Dental Pulp Stem Cell Proliferation

Dentonin, a Fragment of MEPE, Enhanced Dental Pulp Stem Cell Proliferation
2004
By H. Liu 1,2, W. Li1, C. Gao 1, Y. Kumagai 3, R.W. Blacher 3, and P.K. DenBesten 1,*
1 Box 0640, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0640, USA;
2 Peking University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China; and
3 Acologix, Emeryville, CA, USA;
Journal of Dental Research
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Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE) is a SIBLING protein, found in bone and dental tissues. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 23-amino-acid peptide derived from MEPE (Dentonin or AC-100) could stimulate dental pulp stem cell (DPSC) proliferation and/or differentiation. DPSCs were isolated from erupted human molars, and the mitogenic potential of Dentonin in DPSCs was measured by BrdU immunoassay and cell-cycle gene SuperArray. Differentiation of DPSCs with Dentonin was characterized by Western blot and by osteogenesis gene SuperArray. Dentonin enhanced DPSC proliferation by down-regulating P16, accompanied by up-regulation of ubiquitin protein ligase E3A and human ubiquitin-related protein SUMO-1. Enhanced cell proliferation required intact RGD and SGDG motifs in the peptide. This study shows that Dentonin can promote DPSC proliferation, with a potential role in pulp repair. Further studies are required to determine the usefulness of this material in vivo.