Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth attenuate mechanical allodynia in mice through distinct from the siglec-9/MCP-1-mediated tissue-repairing mechanism

The effects of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) on mechanical allodynia were examined in mice. A single intravenous injection of SHED and conditioned medium from SHED (SHED-CM) through the left external jugular vein significantly reversed the established mechanical allodynia induced by spinal nerve transection at 6 days after injection. SHED or SHED-CM significantly decreased the mean numbers of activating transcription factor 3-positive neurons and macrophages in the ipsilateral side of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) at 20 days after spinal nerve transection. SHED or SHED-CM also suppressed activation of microglia and astrocytes in the ipsilateral side of the dorsal spinal cord. A single intravenous injection of secreted ectodomain of sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin-9 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 had no effect on the established mechanical allodynia, whereas a single intravenous injection of protein component(s) contained in SHED-CM with molecular weight of between 30 and 50 kDa reversed the pain. Therefore, it may be concluded that protein component(s) with molecular mass of 30–50 kDa secreted by SHED could protect and/or repair DRG neurons damaged by nerve transection, thereby ameliorating mechanical allodynia.