Hyaluronic Acid Induction Promotes the Differentiation of Human Neural Crest-like Cells into Periodontal Ligament Stem-like Cells

Periodontal ligament (PDL) stem-like cells (PDLSCs) are considered to be promising for the regeneration of periodontium because they demonstrate multipotency, high proliferative capacity, and potential to regenerate bone, cementum, and PDL tissue. However, the transplantation of autologous PDLSCs is restricted by limited availability and the need for tooth extraction to isolate these cells. PDLSCs are derived from neural crest cells (NCs) in early vertebrate development and NCs persist in adult PDL tissue. Therefore, we devised to promote the regeneration of periodontium by activating NCs to differentiate into PDLSCs and increasing their total number. SK-N-SH cells cultured on the extracellular matrix derived of human PDL cells (SK-PDLSCs) strongly expressed PDL-related marker genes and highly differentiated into mesenchymal lineage cells compared to untreated SK-N-SH cells. Expression levels of various hyaluronic acid (HA)-related genes were upregulated in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived PDLSCs and SK-PDLSCs compared to iPSCs-derived NCs and SK-N-SH cells, respectively. Magnetic-activated cell sorting-assisted CD44-positive enrichment population of SK-N-SH cells showed higher expression of PDL-related marker genes after SK-PDLSCs induction than the CD44-negative population. Knockdown of CD44 in SK-N-SH cells significantly inhibited their ability to differentiate into SK-PDLSCs, while lower molecular HA (LHA) induction enhanced SK-PDLSC differentiation. LHA-containing electrospun nanofibrous membranes also promoted their SK-PDLSC differentiation. Our findings suggest that SK-N-SH cells are applied as a new model to induce the differentiation of NCs into PDLSCs. The LHA-CD44 relation is important for the differentiation of NCs into PDLSCs. LHA-containing electrospun nanofibrous membranes would promote the regeneration of periodontium by activating NCs in PDL tissue and increasing the total number of PDLSCs. Control: iPS cells-derived neural crest-like cells, experiment: iPS cells-derived periodontal ligament stem cell-like cells