Clonal Heterogeneity in the Neuronal and Glial Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem/Progenitor Cells

Figure 2

Only high nestin-expressing mDPSC clones possess the ability to differentiate into neuronal-like cells. (a) Representative phase contrast images of high (clone 2) and low (clone 3) nestin-expressing clones prior to and following 15 days of neuronal differentiation demonstrating a more neuronal-like morphology in high nestin-expressing clones with small refractive cell somas extending multiple interconnecting processes. (b) Immunocytochemical staining identified the presence of microtubule-associated protein 2 (Map2) and NF-l in high, but not low, nestin-expressing mDPSC clones following 15 days of neuronal differentiation. (c) Changes in mRNA expression of mesenchymal and neural markers during neuronal differentiation of high nestin-expressing mDPSC clones (clone 2). Expression levels of target genes were normalized against GAPDH and the method for qPCR analysis used to calculate fold change in expression relative to predifferentiation cells on day 0 ± SEM ( independent differentiation experiments). One-way ANOVA with Dunnett multiple comparisons posttest to identify significant increases/decreases in expression compared to day 0 cells: and . Scale bars = 100 μm.

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