Soluble matrix from osteoblastic cells induces mineralization by dental pulp cells.

Dental pulp cells have a capacity to differentiate into mineralization-inducing cells. To clarify the molecular mechanism, we established an in vitro mineralization-inducing system by rat clonal dental pulp cell line, RPC-C2A, and tried to purify a mineralization-inducing factor in conditioned medium (CM) from pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. The active factor was impermeable to an ultrafiltration membrane, and sedimented by ultracentrifugation. The sedimented factor was found as a needle-like structure about 1.3 microm in average length as observed by transmission electron microscopy. The factor contained type I collagen, suggesting not a matrix vesicle, but a soluble matrix. The mineralization-inducing activity was also detected in CM from primary culture of rat calvaria (RC) cells. These results suggested that the soluble matrices from osteoblastic cells serve, at least in part, as differentiation-inducing agents.