Heba Alzer; Nisreen Abu Shahin & Firas Alsoleihat

SUMMARY: Despite comprehensive studies and reports about the properties of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in vitro, we still need to confirm whether these in vitro characteristics coincide with the nature of DPSCs in situ. The anatomical location of DPSCs populations in the dental pulp has yet to be investigated. Moreover, the mesenchymal DPSCs have been much more studied than the neural crest-derived DPSCs. In this study, well-recognized neural/neural crest stem cell markers NCAM1, Nestin, SNAIL/SLUG, SOX9, and S100 are being investigated by immunohistochemistry to localize the precise location of these populations of DPSCs within the human adult dental pulp. All previously mentioned markers were expressed in the dental pulp, and their intensity and location of expression were reported.

KEY WORDS: NCAM1; Nestin; SNAIL/SLUG; SOX9; S100; Human dental pulp; Stem cells; Neural stem cells; Neural crest.

ALZER, H.; SHAHIN, N. A.; ALSOLEIHAT, F. Neural and neural crest-derived stem cell distribution in the adult human dental pulp. Int. J. Morphol., 42(2):510-515, 2024.