摘要：日本研究人员在最新一期美国《国际科学院学报》网络版上发表论文说，他们利用鼠的干细胞制造出与天然牙齿完全相同的牙齿，这为开发牙科再生医疗方法提供了新思路。
用鼠干细胞培育出了牙齿
上述成果由日本东北大学和东京理科大学等机构的一个联合研究小组获得。
研究人员首先在实验鼠胎儿牙胚上采集了上皮干细胞和间充质干细胞，制作出新的牙胚，然后将牙胚放入塑料模具后移植到鼠肾脏皮膜下。
５０天后，牙胚发育成拥有珐琅质、象牙质、牙髓、齿根膜和齿槽骨的再生牙，与天然的牙齿毫无区别。利用这种方法，不仅能够制造出单颗牙齿，还可制造出排列在一块齿槽骨上的４颗牙齿。
研究人员将再生牙植入实验鼠口腔后，再生牙与鼠颚骨结合，牙齿、齿根膜和齿槽骨都固定下来，牙髓中也出现了血管和神经，给再生牙施加的刺激也能够传递到大脑。经观察，植入再生牙的实验鼠具有正常的咀嚼能力。
研究人员认为，要将此项成果应用到人体，还面临如何从胎儿以外获得干细胞、减少人体负担以及如何缩短牙齿培养时间等课题。
生物探索推荐英文论文摘要：
Functional Tooth Regeneration Using a Bioengineered Tooth Unit as a Mature Organ Replacement Regenerative Therapy
Abstract
Donor organ transplantation is currently an essential therapeutic approach to the replacement of a dysfunctional organ as a result of disease, injury or aging in vivo. Recent progress in the area of regenerative therapy has the potential to lead to bioengineered mature organ replacement in the future. In this proof of concept study, we here report a further development in this regard in which a bioengineered tooth unit comprising mature tooth, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, was successfully transplanted into a properly-sized bony hole in the alveolar bone through bone integration by recipient bone remodeling in a murine transplantation model system. The bioengineered tooth unit restored enough the alveolar bone in a vertical direction into an extensive bone defect of murine lower jaw. Engrafted bioengineered tooth displayed physiological tooth functions such as mastication, periodontal ligament function for bone remodeling and responsiveness to noxious stimulations. This study thus represents a substantial advance and demonstrates the real potential for bioengineered mature organ replacement as a next generation regenerative therapy.
