Faculty Research – Who’s Who in SOD Dr Zhao Lin
Dr Lin joined the department of periodontics last year. He divides his time between clinics and his research passion in periodontal regeneration. Treatment of severe periodontal disease is complex. Current treatments involve guided tissue regeneration, using barrier membranes to support bone growth on one side and periodontal tissue growth on the other. While this is reasonably successful in well-contained defects the outcomes are still unpredictable in many challenging situations such as one wall defects and furcation involvement. Dr Lin’s research hopes to address this by treating the defects in a more integrated fashion using mesenchymal stem cells.
Dr Lin completed his dental training at the School of Stomatology, Peking University Health Science Center. On completion, his mentors suggested he get involved in research and so he undertook a Masters in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Peking University. It was here his passion for regenerative medicine and how he as a dentist could apply it to oral health started. Following his Masters he completed a PhD in Oral Health Sciences at the University of Michigan and a MS in medical science at Harvard University.
Dr Lin is now using his research training to explore the role of stem cells in periodontal regeneration so that dentists can provide patients with better treatments with more predictable outcomes. He is a taking a tissue engineering approach to the very complex periodontal environment. This consists of a number of tissues: gingiva, periodontal ligaments, cementum and bone. Dr Lin believes for successful periodontal regeneration all of these tissues need to be considered. The use of mesenchymal stem cells (bone marrow stromal cells) which have the ability to differentiate into all of these tissues could provide an effective treatment for complex cases.
Almost all cell types release microvesicles or exosomes that contain lipids, proteins and micro RNAs. These exosomes are believed to be essential for cell-cell communication and they may play a role in determining the fate of surrounding stem cells. The vesicles are 40-100 nm diameter membranous vesicles constitutively released by the cells. Dr Lin is isolating and analyzing the contents of the exosomes of bone marrow stromal cells to understand what stem cell differentiation signals they contain.
Dr Lin’s collaborators in the School of engineering, Drs Boyan and Schwartz are analyzing the protein and lipid content of the vesicles while Dr Lin is focused on micro RNAs. He hopes that by analyzing the micro RNA components of these vesicles he will be able to identify RNA sequences that are essential for the differentiation of these cells in to the many tissues that form the periodontal environment. Dr Lin will initially focus on the regeneration of bone but future plans include looking at the regeneration of the gingiva and cementum.
Ultimately Dr Lin hopes to be able to treat periodontal disease by delivering either intact exosomes or micro RNAs, along with stem cells and a cell scaffold to the site of damage to promote regeneration of periodontal tissues. While Dr Lin’s work is still at an early stage and uses in vitro models, others are exploring the use of stem cells in periodontal regeneration and there are currently three Phase 1 clinical trials exploring the effectiveness of using stem cells for treating periodontal disease.
Closely aligned to his basic research Dr Lin is also interested in understanding the differences in implant retention between individual with osteoporosis and those without. He would like to understand whether any differences between these two groups are at least in part due to differences in bone marrow stromal cells.
Dr Lin divides his time between teaching and clinics at the school of dentistry and his research which he conducts at the School of Engineering. Here he has access to essential equipment and daily contact with his research mentors Drs Boyan and Schwartz. Dr Schwartz is one of two dentists who are faculty members in the School of Engineering.
Dr Lin is excited about developing his own research ideas and building his research group. He is enthusiastic about the opportunities new technology brings to the practice of dentistry. He believes the dental profession needs a group of people who are willing to embrace and research new technologies for their application in the field of dentistry.
Categories Research