The combined effect of mineral trioxide aggregate and enamel matrix derivative on odontoblastic differentiation in human dental pulp cells.

INTRODUCTION: The current study investigated the effectiveness of enamel matrix derivative (EMD) and mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) in inducing the differentiation of human dental pulp cells (HDPCs) into odontoblast-like cells in vitro.

METHODS: The effects of MTA and EMD on odontoblastic differentiation were indexed by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the expression of odontoblastic/osteoblastic markers, as determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. Mineralization was also evaluated by the staining of calcium deposits with Alizarin red. Cells were treated with a combination of MTA and EMD or with MTA alone.

RESULTS: Compared with MTA-treated cells on day 3, MTA/EMD-treated cells exhibited significantly greater increases in ALP activity and in dentin sialophosphoprotein and bone sialoprotein expression. Mineralization was significantly greater on day 7 in MTA/EMD-treated cells than in MTA-treated cells.

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a combination of MTA and EMD promotes more rapid differentiation in HDPCs than MTA alone and that this combination is thus a potential pulp-capping agent.