Lithium Chloride Promotes the Odontoblast Differentiation of Hair Follicle Neural Crest Cells by Activating Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling
July 2014
in “
Cell Biology International
”
TLDR Lithium chloride helps hair follicle cells become tooth cells by activating a specific signaling pathway.
The study investigated the effects of lithium chloride (LiCl) on the differentiation of hair follicle neural crest cells (hf NCCs) into odontoblast-like cells, focusing on the activation of the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. It was found that LiCl treatment increased the proliferation of hf NCCs and enhanced the expression of β‐catenin in both cytosolic and nuclear compartments. Additionally, pluripotency markers such as Oct4, Klf4, Sox2, and Nanog were more highly expressed in LiCl-treated cells compared to controls. In an in vitro model using dental cell conditioned media, LiCl-treated hf NCCs showed stronger expression of odontoblast markers DSP, DMP1, and Runx2. The results suggested that LiCl could effectively promote the proliferation and odontoblast differentiation of hf NCCs, indicating that chemical approaches like LiCl treatment could be beneficial for developing cell-based therapies.