Human adult periodontal ligament-derived cells integrate and differentiate after implantation into the adult mammalian brain.

Previous studies suggest that neural crest (NC)-derived stem cells may reside in NC derivatives including the human periodontal ligament (hPDL). The isolation and manipulation of autologous NC-derived cells could be an accessible source of adult neural stem cells for their use in cell replacement and gene transfer to the diseased central nervous system. In this study, we examined the expression of NC markers and neural differentiation potential of hPDL-derived cells both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro we found that hPDL-derived cells expressed stem cell markers (Oct3/4, Nestin, Sox2, and Musashi-1) and a subset of NC cell markers (Slug, p75(NTR), Twist, and Sox9). hPDL-derived cells differe…