The reconstruction of bioengineered organ by cell manipulation

It has been expected that technology for reconstitution of an entire organ from single cells for application to organ replacement strategies in regenerative therapy. In our current study, we show that the artificial organ germ, which generates a structurally correct organ, could be reconstituted by cell manipulation. Bioengineered tooth germ was reconstituted from epithelial and mesenchymal single cells, which were separated from E14.5 incisor tooth germ under stereoscopic microscope. Explants reconstituted with the compartmentalization between epithelial and mesenchymal cells at high-cell density could generate structurally correct teeth. Furthermore, individual primordia, which were dissected from the bioengineered tooth germ on day 2 of the organ culture, could generate a single tooth. These observations indicate that the initial cell density and the compartmentalization between cell types, which mimics epithelial mesenchymal cell interaction, are essential for the development of a bioengineered organ germ. Our results have a potential for the application of bioengineered organ in future regenerative therapies