VEGF Stimulated Differentiation of Gingival Stem Cells to Endothelial Cells

Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida, USA

Purpose: In bone tissue, engineering vascularization remains a major challenge to regenerate bone in large defects. The long-term goal of this study is to develop a highly vascularized tissue engineered bone for the repair of critical size bone defects in the craniofacial region. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro differentiation of human gingiva derived stem cells (GMSCS) to endothelial lineage. Methods: GMSCs isolated from gingival tissue were treated with 0, 10, 50 and 100 ng/ml VEGF for one week. The expressions of endothelial maker genes VCAM-1, PCDH12, FLT1 and KDR were measured by quantitative PCR. An immunofluorescence and a matrigel assays were performed to examine the endothelial differentiation of GMSCs. The results were analyzed using ANOVA, a Dunnet Multiple comparison test. Results: The stimulation of GMSCs with VEGF enhanced the gene expression of endothelial markers VCAM -1 in a dose dependent manner. While VCAM-1 and KDR expression was significantly upregulated at all concentrations (P=0.0041, P= 0.003) respectively, the upregulation of FLT1 (P Conclusions: Our findings support that GMSCs can differentiate into endothelial cells. GMSCs as autologous stem cell source provide new options for engineered vascularized tissue for the repair of craniofacial defects. Funding: HPD grant # 335703