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Figure 1. Cultured re-associations between dental mesenchyme and bone marrow cells mixed with dental epithelial cells. (A) Crude EGFP bone marrow cells were mixed with dental epithelial cells (1:1), re-associated with dental mesenchyme, and cultured up to 20 days. As shown after H&E staining (A), a typical dental epithelial histological organization was achieved in 30/45 samples. (B–D) In the samples illustrated in (A), anti-EGFP and anti-cytokeratin 14 (CK-14) antibodies revealed that in only 3/30 samples, bone marrow cells could be detected in the inner dental epithelium (IDE). (E,F) In the dental mesenchyme (Mes), bone marrow cells were abundant. (G) CM-DiI labeling and anti-CK-14 antibody show the engraftment of c-kit+-enriched bone marrow cells in the inner dental epithelium after 6 days. Bone marrow cells also existed in the dental mesenchyme. (H–J) Many c-kit+-enriched bone marrow cells engrafted in the inner dental epithelium and also in the dental mesenchyme after 20 days. (K-M) c-kit–-enriched bone marrow cells could be seen only rarely in the dental mesenchyme. Bar = 40 µm (A–D, H–M) and 10 µm (E–G).
