Abstract
To investigate the biocompatibility of the biomaterial, polylactic acid (PLA) with stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) and its induction of mineralization as a type of scaffold material. To determine the impacts of biomaterial PLA on proliferation and mineralization of SHED, the expression of surface molecules of SHED isolated and cultured in vitro was detected by flow cytometry. In addition, cell proliferation was measured using MTT and Edu assays, and the evaluation of mineralized differentiation was performed using Alizarin Red S staining. In addition, the expression levels of osteogenic marker genes were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis. SHED were successfully isolated and identified. The MTT and Edu results indicated that the proliferation of SHED cultured in PLA and normal medium was not significantly different. The Alizarin Red S staining demonstrated that the mineralization capability was significantly higher in the SHED that were cultured in PLA medium. Furthermore, RT-qPCR and western blot analyses indicated that the expression levels of osteogenic marker genes were higher in the SHED cultured in PLA medium. These results suggested that PLA possesses good biocompatibility with SHED and may effectively induce the mineralization of SHED and serve as a scaffold material.