• Panarat Rattanaworawipa D.D.S.
• Thanaphum Osathanon D.D.S., Ph.D.
• Prasit Pavasant D.D.S., Ph.D.
• Waleerat Sukarawan D.D.S., Grad. Dip. (Pediatric Dentistry), Ph.D.

Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the canonical Wnt pathway
activated by LiCl, a GSK3β inhibitor, on proliferation of human deciduous pulp (hDDP) cells.

Material and Methods Human deciduous dental pulp cells were stimulated with LiCl at various
concentrations (5 mM, 10 mM, 20 mM). Cell morphology was visualized with inverted transmitted
light microscope. Cell viability was determined using MTT assay. The mRNA expression levels were
determined by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction.

Results LiCl did not exhibit cell toxicity, as evaluated by cell morphology and viability at 24 h. In
addition, LiCl treatment suppressed cell proliferation in dose dependent manner. The c-fos, but not
CASPASE3, mRNA expression was significantly reduced upon LiCl treatment.

Conclusion LiCl, a GSK3β inhibitor and Wnt signaling activator, significantly inhibited the proliferation
of hDDP cells and decreased the expression of c-fos, a proliferative gene marker, but did not
affect the expression of CASPASE3, an apoptotic gene. This may indicate that activated Wnt signaling
by LiCl decreased the proliferation of hDDP cells through the down-regulation of c-fos expression,
but not activation of apoptotic pathway.

(CU Dent J. 2015;38(Suppl):21-28)