Bio-hybrid implants: Restoring organ functions

Our bodies function thanks to the smooth integration of different organs within the surrounding tissues. One challenge of creating artificial organs is to mimic the comprehensive organ function. Bio-hybrid implants are the way to go, but so far they have not been able to fully integrate into the living tissue and perform the same functions as real biological organs. Now Takashi Tsuji and collaborators at several institutions in Japan have developed a bio-hybrid dental implant that restores the physiological tooth functions by using a conventional dental implant and dental follicle stem cells as a bio-hybrid organ.

The team used a hydroxyapatite-coated titanium implant and dental follicle stem cells extracted from embryonic tooth germs. They then studied the integration of this bio-hybrid implant into the tooth loss region with different microscopy techniques and demonstrated the regeneration of periodontal tissues comprising cementum, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone.

Tsuji and his colleagues found that the bio-hybrid implant essentially acts as a fully functional organ in vivo. The implant can respond to mechanical stress and perceive noxious stimuli. It also restores other physiological functions such as bone remodelling and regeneration of critical bone-defects.

There is still a way to go to clinical applications, but the new bio-hybrid implant represents a significant advance in the development of the next-generation therapeutic treatments for tooth loss.

Publication and Affiliation

Masamitsu Oshima¹, Kaoru Inoue^2,3, Kei Nakajima^2,4, Tetsuhiko Tachikawa⁵, Hiromichi Yamazaki², Tomohide Isobe⁵, Ayaka Sugawara², Miho Ogawa^1,6, Chie Tanaka², Masahiro Saito², Shohei Kasugai⁷, Teruko Takano-Yamamoto³, Takashi Inoue⁴, Katsunari Tezuka^1,6, Takuo Kuboki⁸, Akira Yamaguchi⁹ & Takashi Tsuji^1,2,6*
Functional tooth restoration by next-generation bio-hybrid implant as a bio-hybrid artificial organ replacement therapy, Scientific Reports 4:6044 (2014) DOI: 10.1038/srep06044

1. Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan
2. Department of Biological Science and Technology, Graduate School of Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan
3. Division of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai,Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan
4. Department of Clinical Pathophysiology, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba-shi, Chiba, 261-8502, Japan
5. Department of Oral Pathology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 145-8515, Japan
6. Organ Technologies Inc., Tokyo, 108-0074, Japan
7. Section of Oral Implantology and Regenerative Dental Medicine, Graduate School of Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8549, Japan
8. Department of Oral Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8525, Japan
9. Section of Oral Pathology, Department of Oral Restitution, Graduate School of Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8549, Japan

^*corresponding author, e-mail address: t-tsuji@rs.noda.tus.ac.jp

Current address;
1. Masamitsu Oshima (First author):
Department of Oral Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8525, Japan

2. Takashi Tsuji (Corresponding Author):
RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0047, Japan

・ Authors: Oshima Masamitsu, Inoue Kaoru, Nakajima Kei, Tachikawa Tetsuhiko, Yamazaki Hiromichi, Isobe Tomohide, Sugawara Ayaka, Ogawa Miho,Tanaka Chie, Saito Masahiro, Kasugai Shohei, Takano-Yamamoto Teruko, Inoue Takashi, Tezuka Katsunari, Kuboki Takuo, Yamaguchi Akira, and Tsuji Takashi
・ Title of original paper: Functional tooth restoration by next-generation bio-hybrid implant as a bio-hybrid artificial organ replacement therapy
・ Journal, volume, pages and year: Scientific Reports 4, 6044 (2014).
http://ousar.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/metadata/52907