The impact of gingival fibroblast-derived iPS cells in dentistry

The oral gingiva, which is often resected during dental treatments, is an easily obtainable tissue, and cells can be isolated from patients with minimal discomfort. We generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from adult mouse or human gingival fibroblasts (GFs) using retroviral transduction of the Yamanaka factors (Egusa et al., PLoS One, 2010). These iPS cells exhibited characteristics similar to embryonic stem cells. The reprogramming efficiency of mouse GFs was higher than that of tail skin fibroblasts. Fibroblasts from gingival tissues that are easily obtained by dentists can be readily reprogrammed into iPS cells, thus making them a promising cell source for future oral tissue engineering applications, as well as for in vitro applications for drug screening and the generation of disease-specific iPS cells for tailor-made diagnostics. Current hurdles that will need to be cleared if iPS cells are to fulfill their clinical promise are also outlined in this mini-review.