Plithotaxis, a collective cell migration, regulates the sliding of proliferating pulp cells located in the apical niche

Using the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunostaining, we previously identified, after pulp exposure, three zones of proliferating cells in the rat molar pulp. Zones I and II were in the crown near the pulp. Zone III was near the apex revealing a recruitment of mitotic cells at distance from the lesion. To gain further insight into the spatio-temporal evolution of proliferating pulp cells of zone III, we performed a longitudinal study of PCNA staining in rat molar mesial root at 3, 8, and 15 d after pulp exposure associated to implantation of unloaded or amelogenin loaded agarose beads. At day 3 after implantation, PCNA-positive cells were located in the central part of the radicular pulp. At day 8, PCNA-labeled cells were aligned in the lateral part of the pulp beneath the odontoblast/ sub-odontoblast layer. At day 15, PCNA labeling became undetectable in the root and was located in the coronal pulp. These results suggest that after pulp exposure, PCNA-positive cells may migrate from the central part of the radicular pulp to the sub-odontoblast cell layer and then from the apical root to the crown. Electron microscopy and immunostaining analysis showed that pulpal cells were linked by desmosome-like and gap-junctions. Extracellular matrix was composed of thin collagen fibrils associated with glycosaminoglycans favoring cell mobility. These data suggest that the syncytium-like structure formed by pulp radicular cells may be a pre-request for plithotaxis, a collective cell migration process. This emergent mechanism may govern pulp healing and regeneration after dental lesion.