WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Researchers at Emory University in the U.S. have discovered dental pulp stem cells can stimulate growth and generation of several types of neural cells.

    Findings from this study, released by the university on Tuesday, suggest dental pulp stem cells show promise for use in cell therapy and regenerative medicine, particularly therapies associated with the central nervous system.

    Dental stem cells are adult stem cells, one of the two major divisions of stem cell research. Adult stem cells have the ability to regenerate many different types of cells, promising great therapeutic potential. Already, dental pulp stem cells have been used for regeneration of dental and craniofacial cells.

    Emory research team placed dental pulp stem cells from the tooth of a rhesus macaque into the hippocampal areas of mice. The dental pulp stem cells stimulated growth of new neural cells, and many of these formed neurons.

    "Our study demonstrates the specific therapeutic potential of dental pulp stem cells and the broader potential for adult stem cells," say the researchers.

    Because dental pulp stem cells can be isolated from anyone at any age during a visit to the dentist, they are interested in the possibility of dental pulp stem cell banking. Being able to use one's own stem cells for therapy would greatly decrease the risk of cell rejection that are now seen in transplant medicine.

    The research team's next plan is to determine if dental pulp stem cells from monkeys with Huntington's disease can enhance brain cell development in the same way dental pulp stem cells from healthy monkeys do.