Dental pulp stem cells for tissue engineered heart valve

Myxomatous mitral valve degeneration is the most acquired heart disease in dogs. To reduce the clinical progression of mitral valve degeneration and achieve the hemodynamic outcomes, many medical or surgical treatments have been motivated. The objectives of this study is to investigate the suitability of puppy deciduous teeth stem cells as a cell source for tissue engineered heart valves in dog with degenerative valve disease. Puppy deciduous teeth stem cells (pDSCs) were seeded on the scaffolds which made from polylactic acid (PLA), polycaprolactone (PLC) and silicone. The mechanical properties of the tissue engineered heart valves leaflets were characterized by biaxial tensile tests. Results showed that, deciduous teeth stem cells capable of differentiating into a variety of cell types. However, the ability of puppy deciduous teeth stem cells to differentiate declined with increasing passage number which correspond to the number of protein surface marker detection have been shown to decrease substantially by the fifth passage. PLA scaffold is significantly higher tensile strength than other materials. However, silicone showed the highest flaccidity. The results from this study may provide high regenerative capability and the essential information for future directions of heart valve tissue engineering.