The effects of melatonin on the viability and osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of human stem cells from the apical papilla

Background An experimental study was conducted to examine whether melatonin influences osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of human stem cells derived from the apical papilla (hSCAPs).Materials and methods In order to isolate hSCAPs, the undeveloped root of a third molar of a human tooth was used. Melatonin was administered to the experimental groups in an osteogenic medium. No treatment was administered to the control group. The methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed on days 1, 2, and 3 to assess cell viability (n = 8). A determination of odontogenic/osteogenic differentiation was accomplished using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity alizarin red staining (ARS) (n = 6), and the expression of osteogenic genes by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (n = 3) on days 1, 2, and 7. Evaluation of the data was conducted using SPSS version 18. All experiments were conducted at least three times. The Mann Whitney U test, the ANOVA analysis, Tukey's test, and t-test was implemented to analyze the data (alpha = 0.05).Results After 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h, No significant difference was observed between the control group and the melatonin treatment group in terms of viability of hSCAPs. (from 1 up to 10 mu g/ml) (P > 0.05). The assessment of ARS and ALP activity showed that melatonin treatment enhanced osteogenic differentiation of hSCAPs (P < 0.001). Melatonin treatment caused hSCAPs to show an increase of genes related to osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation. These genes included ALP, dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP-1), and bone sialoprotein (BSP) (P < 0.001).Conclusions Melatonin treatment enhanced osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of hSCAPs with a dose dependent effect on cell viability.