Characterization of p75 neurotrophin receptor expression in human dental pulp stem cells

•Human DPSC are groups of stem cells capable of differentiating into neural cells.•A small percent of p75NTR+ human DPSC are of great neurogenic potential.•p75NTR+ DPSC also possess high expression levels of neuro-markers.•p75NTR is a useful marker to isolate stem cells with high neurogenecity.

Human adult dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) are a heterogeneous stem cell population, which are able to differentiate down neural, chondrocyte, osteocyte and adipocyte lineages. We studied the expression pattern of p75 neurotrophin receptors (p75NTR), a marker of neural stem cells, within human DPSC populations from eight donors. p75NTR are expressed at low levels (<10%) in DPSC. Importantly, p75+ DPSC represent higher expression levels of SOX1 (neural precursor cell marker), SOX2 (cell pluripotency marker) and nestin (neural stem cell marker) in comparison to p75− DPSC. Our results suggest that p75+ hDPSC may denote a subpopulation with greater neurogenic potential.