Innate molecular signature of stem cells from carious teeth influences differentiation toward endodermal endpoint

A schematic representation of in vitro hepatic differentiation. The introduction of OSM in hepatocyte induction media inhibits the action of TGF-β which in turn activates a variety of effects. Firstly, inhibition of both Snail and Twist would lead to up-regulation of DSP which is vital for hepatocyte development. In addition, the inhibition of TGF-β would activate Notch pathways which lead to the inhibition of HGF. Due to abundance of HGF in DPSCs-CT as shown in our study, we speculate that the inhibitory effect of Notch pathways was subdued thus leading to successful hepatocyte differentiation. WNT signaling on the other hand exert their effects by inhibiting GSK molecules which in turn activates Snail. However the inhibitory effect by TGF-β toward Snail might overshadow this activation. Together, these crosstalk interactions could have contributed to the in vitro hepatocyte development in DPSCs-CT. Dashed lines represent indirect interaction whereas straight lines represent direct interaction with green and red colour indicating activation and inhibition, respectively.270