Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells: Current Status, Concerns, and Future Prospects

Figure 2

Criteria for identification of periodontal ligament stem cells. PDLSCs share similarities with MSCs in terms of antigenic phenotype and multipotent differentiation potential in vitro. In addition, PDLSCs also possess low immunogenicity and immunosuppressive ability, similar to MSCs. However, PDLSCs differ from MSC derived from other tissues or organs, such as expression of PDL-function related proteins (periostin, scleraxis, and α-SMA) and forming a cementum-PDL structure in vivo.