Effect of baicalin on the proliferation and odento/osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells

Objective: To investigate the effect of baicalin on the proliferation and odento/osteogenic differentiation of huaman dental pulp stem cells( h DPSCs) in vitro. Methods: h DPSCs were isolated from dental pulp and then were cultured in alpha minimun essential medium( α-MEM) supplimented with or without baicalin. MTT colorimetric method was used to examine the proliferation ability of h DPSCs. The effect of baicalin on the odento / osteogenic differentiation was observed by alkaline phosphotase( ALP) activity and Western blot. Results: MTT assay showed that there was no significant difference between baicalin-treated and untreated control cells( P 0. 05),and ALP activity assay demonstrated that 0 ~ 20 μmol / L baicalin enhanced the ALP activity of DPSCs( P 0. 01),and Western blot revealed that the odento / osteogenic marker( RUNX2,DSP,OSX,OPN,OCN) was significantly upregulated in baicalin-treated cells compared with the untreated cells. Conclusions: Baicalin has no effect on the proliferation of DPSCs,but enhances the capacity of odento / osteogenic differentiation.