Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of a peptide (i.e., SESDNNSSSRGDASYNSDES) derived from dentin phosphophoryn (DPP) with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) motifs on odontoblast differentiation in vitro and to compare it with calcium hydroxide-a material used conventionally for vital pulp therapy-in terms of reparative dentin formation and pulp inflammation in vivo. Alkaline phosphatase activity assay and alizarin red S staining were performed to evaluate odontoblast-differentiation in cell culturing experiments. To observe the reparative dentin formation and pulp inflammation animal experiment was performed and examined by histological methods. The difference between the experimental group and the control group was analyzed statistically using a one-way ANOVA test. The results revealed that the DPP-derived RGD-containing peptide triggered odontoblast differentiation and mineralization in vitro. In rats undergoing direct pulp capping, the DPP-derived RGD-containing peptide was found to induce intensively formed reparative dentin with high compactness at week 4. On histological and morphometrical examinations, a smaller degree of pulpitis was observed in the specimens treated with the peptide than in those treated with calcium hydroxide. This study suggests that the DPP-derived RGD-containing peptide is a biocompatible, biodegradable and bioactive material for dentin regeneration.