Journal
JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH
Volume 92, Issue 8, Pages 709-715Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/0022034513493434
Keywords
periodontal ligament; cementoblasts; GFP; -smooth muscle actin; scleraxis; Cre recombinase
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Funding
- NIH/NIAMS [AR055607]
- Croatian Science Foundation
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The periodontal ligament contains progenitor cells; however, their identity and differentiation potential in vivo remain poorly characterized. Previous results have suggested that periodontal tissue progenitors reside in perivascular areas. Therefore, we utilized a lineage-tracing approach to identify and track periodontal progenitor cells from the perivascular region in vivo. We used an alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA) promoter-driven and tamoxifen-inducible Cre system (SMACreERT2) that, in combination with a reporter mouse line (Ai9), permanently labels a cell population, termed SMA9'. To trace the differentiation of SMA9-labeled cells into osteoblasts/cementoblasts, we utilized a Col2.3GFP transgene, while expression of Scleraxis-GFP was used to follow differentiation into periodontal ligament fibroblasts during normal tissue formation and remodeling following injury. In uninjured three-week-old SMA9 mice, tamoxifen labeled a small population of cells in the periodontal ligament that expanded over time, particularly in the apical region of the root. By 17 days and 7 weeks after labeling, some SMA9-labeled cells expressed markers indicating differentiation into mature lineages, including cementocytes. Following injury, SMA9 cells expanded, and differentiated into cementoblasts, osteoblasts, and periodontal ligament fibroblasts. SMA9-labeled cells represent a source of progenitors that can give rise to mature osteoblasts, cementoblasts, and fibroblasts within the periodontium.
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