Differential gene expression of human periodontium-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from human gingival tissue and periodontal ligament (PDL) have shown potential for periodontal regeneration. Although PDL-MSCs have been recognized as the best choic for cell-based periodontal regeneration, isolation of PDL-MSCs required tooth extraction which is impractical for clinical use. Supracrestal gingival connective tissue (SG) is a part of gingival tissue which located closely to PDL and can be harvested without tooth extraction. Here, the characteristics of MSCs derived from SG was evaluated. Differential gene expression profiles of hSG-MSCs, hPDL-MSCs, and human marginal gingival tissue (MG)-derived MSCs were compared. Results demonstrated that hSG-MSCs had a more similar gene expression profile to the hPDL-MSCs than the hMG-MSCs, suggested a potential candidate cell source of SG for future peridontal tissue engineering. hSG-MSCs, hPDL-MSCs, hMG-MSCs from 5 subjects were cultured in complete medium. Total RNA of each cell type was isolated and RNA sequencing was performed. Differential gene expression and pathway enrichment was also performed.