牙周疾病以牙周膜、牙骨质、牙槽骨和牙龈等牙周支持组织的破坏为特征，在世界范围内给公众健康造成严重负担。缺损牙周组织的再生是牙周治疗的主要目标之一。牙周组织再生已经成为一个共同且复杂的临床难题。在过去的三年里，一些研究者发现骨髓间充质干细胞(MSCs)能够促进牙周组织再生，然而其机理未完全明晰。许多研究者推测其主要机理是通过MSCs的部位特异性分化。我们进一步提出以下假说：控制和加速移植MSCs的定向分化将成为治疗牙周疾病的可能形式。将MSCs复合一些能促进其体内定向分化的特定因子，可能会提高牙周组织再生的效率。

Med Hypotheses. 2007 Nov 17; [Epub ahead of print]
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    Differentiation control of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs): A new possible strategy to promote periodontal regeneration.

    Zhao Q, Gong P, Tan Z, Yang X.

    West China College of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, Third Section, Renmin Nan Road, Chengdu 610041, China.

    Periodontal diseases, characterized by destruction of periodontal supporting tissue including periodontal ligament (PDL), cementum, alveolar bone, and gingiva, were a substantial public health burden worldwide. The regeneration of destroyed periodontal tissues is a major goal in periodontal therapy. Periodontal tissue regeneration has been a common and complicated clinical problem now. In the past three years, some researches discovered bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) would accelerate periodontal tissue regeneration, but the mechanism was unknown. Many researchers speculated the main reason was the site-specific differentiation of MSCs. We further propose a hypothesis that controlling and accelerating the specific differentiation of transplanted MSCs could constitute a possible treatment modality for periodontal diseases. The combination of MSCs transplanting with some specific signaling molecules, which could accelerate the directed differentiation of MSCs in vivo, might promote periodontal regeneration more effectively.