The behavior of rat tooth germ cells on poly(vinyl alcohol).

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behaviors of rat tooth germ (TG) cells cultured on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). It was found that TG cells suspended and aggregated to form three-dimensional spheroids on PVA. Compared with traditional monolayered cells on tissue culture polystyrene, TG cell spheroids on PVA obviously increased the alkaline phosphatase activity, the degree of mineralization, and upregulated both osteopontin and dentin matrix protein 1 genes, regardless of the seeding density. Surprisingly, PVA appears to activate the alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization effects on TG cell spheroids in the absence of a differentiation medium. Furthermore, the present study indicates that integrins may play an important role in the mineralization on TG cell spheroids by adding Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptides. Therefore, the information presented here should help to clarify the role of PVA in the regulation of the mineralization, differentiation and integrin-mediation of TG cells.