Figure 2

Comparison of the effect of key inflammatory regulators on the stem cell phenotype of dental pulp stems (DPCs). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was the only cytokine that remarkably increased the percentage of cells positive for CD146 and stage-specific embryonic antigen 4 (SSEA-4). Although TNF-α and interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) have been reported to present a synergistic effect, the combination of them did not enhance the TNF-α effect. Results are representative of at least three independent experiments.