In dental, oral, and cranial regions, several tissue specific stem cells have been identified in the last few decades. For example, dental pulp or periodontal ligament-derived mesenchymal stem cells show highly proliferative ability similar to that of marrow stromal cells. These stem cells are induced by adherent culture methods, or isolation by selective markers. On the other hand, there are still difficulties in obtaining and maintaining dental or oral epithelial cells robustly. However, some experts have reported how to produce odontogenic epithelial cell lines, and other groups have used dental epithelium for tooth organ production via epithelial and mesenchymal interactions with organ germ technology.

Stem cells are well known as a powerful cell source for regenerative therapy for several organ diseases. In addition, recent studies have revealed that stem cells release trophic factors and have multiple effects such as angiogenesis, immunomodulation, etc. While they show advantages in regenerative medicine, they sometimes have a dark side. Cancer associated-stem cells are identified in oral squamous cell carcinoma or sarcoma. We can see their high proliferation and migration abilities induce unexpected results like cancer metastasis or epithelial-mesenchymal transition. To characterize each stem cell appropriately and utilize it efficiently for cell research, new methods and tools for detail analysis and application are strongly desired.

In this collection, we expect to introduce several new tools by using dental, oral, cranial stem cells for basic and clinical applications. These purposes are not only limited to regenerative medicine for dental diseases or other organ diseases, but also for cancer medicine.