ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>The aim of this study was to confirm the multilineage differentiation ability of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) from green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice. The expression of GFP in DPSCs was also observed during differentiation.</p><p><b>METHODOLOGY</b>DPSCs were harvested from the dental pulp tissue of transgenic nude mice, and then transferred to osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic media. The morphological characterization of induced cells was observed by microscopy and histological staining. The expression of marker genes was measured by RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The endogenous GFP and multilineage potential of transgenic DPSCs had no influence on each other. Moreover, the results of fluorescence microscopic imaging suggest that there was no significant decline of GFP expression during DPSCs differentiation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>As the population of GFP labeled DPSCs can be easily identified, this will be a promising method for tracking DPSCs in vivo.</p>