Mihnea Ioan NicolescuCarol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy | UMF CD · Faculty of Dentistry
Mihnea Ioan Nicolescu
Doctor of Medicine
Chair of Histology Regenerative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy
About
51
Publications
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Introduction
Currently I am the Chair of Histology (Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest) and also researcher in Radiobiology Laboratory of Victor Babeș National Institute of Pathology (Bucharest, Romania). My current research interests are salivary glands regeneration, applied oral biology and translational education.
I am also Visiting Lecturer at Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London.
Additional affiliations
October 2005 - present
February 2004 - present
Position
- Lecturer
Description
- Chair of Histology Division. Organiser of the first Romanian Module of Regenerative Dentistry.
Education
September 2014 - September 2015
January 2005 - January 2012
January 2004 - January 2009
Publications
Publications (51)
Background: Oral hygiene is essential for low caries or gingivitis prevalence in children. This study aimed to determine the oral hygiene profile of children from secondary schools (10–17 years) in Bucharest, Romania, and to explore options for preventing their future oral diseases. Methods: The study was cross-sectional, with a sample of n = 1595...
We compared the managing of prevention methods for SARS-CoV-2 infections in dental offices before and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to find out the varieties of infection prevention methods used by dentists before and during the pandemic and compare them. We designed a digital transversal questionnaire with...
Malignant tumors of head and neck region represent a heterogenous group of pathologies. Immune phenotype of each tumor might represent valuable information for a putative personalized treatment in the future. We decided to revisit very interesting previous data from a study we conducted in 2003 where we encountered a rare population of CD4+CD8+ dou...
Astrocytes (AS) are the most abundant glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). They have various morphologies and numerous (50-60) branching prolongations, with roles in the maintenance of the CNS function and homeostasis. AS in the optic nerve head (ONH) have specific distribution and function and are involved in the pathogenesis of glauco...
In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Global Health Sector Strategy for the elimination of viral hepatitis, which all WHO Member States have endorsed. Its main aim is to eliminate viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030. An updated strategy developed in 2022 has assessed the achievements and gaps in reaching the t...
Background and Objectives: Saliva is of utmost importance for maintaining oral health. Management of saliva flow rate deficiency recently includes salivary neuro-electrostimulation. The aim of this paper is to present a new model of salivary pacemaker—the MICROSAL device (MD), an intelligent, miniaturized, and implant-supported oral device used for...
Accidental exposure to blood or other biological fluids is a common occurrence in dentistry, and its post-exposure management is a key component of infection prevention and control programs designed to prevent the transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV, HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This narrativ...
Background:
The force a muscle exerts is partly determined by anatomical parameters, such as its physiological cross-section. The temporal muscle is structurally heterogeneous. To the authors' knowledge, the ultrastructure of this muscle has been poorly specifically studied.
Methods:
Five adult Wistar rats weighting 350-400g were used as tempora...
With the prevalence of digitalization in all aspects of modern society, health assessment is becoming digital too. Taking advantage of the most recent technological advances and approaching medicine from an interdisciplinary perspective has allowed for important progress in healthcare services. Digital health technologies and biotelemetry devices h...
Background
The lymphatic structure of the eye is still under debate. It is mainly assumed that the retina is primarily drained by prelymphatics and not by lymphatics per se. We aimed to identify lymphatics in the rat retina.
Methods
Eyes from ten Wistar rats were paraffin-embedded and lymphatic marker podoplanin (D2-40) was investigated.
Results...
Cardiac interstitium is a complex and dynamic environment, vital for normal cardiac structure and function. Telocytes are active cellular players in regulating main events that feature myocardial homeostasis and orchestrating its involvement in heart pathology. Despite the great amount of data suggesting (microscopically, proteomically, genetically...
Background and Objectives: The dental pulp stem cells are highly proliferative and can differentiate into various cell types, including endothelial cells. We aimed to evaluate the ultrastructural characteristics of the human dental pulp cells of the permanent frontal teeth. Materials and Methods: Human adult bioptic dental pulp was collected from n...
We aimed to validate the safety and efficacy of the minimally invasive “open healing” flapless technique for post-extraction socket and alveolar ridge preservation, while assessing the alveolar bone changes. The study enrolled (n = 104) patients (0.55 sex ratio), with atraumatic extraction of (N = 135) hopeless teeth, followed by either immediate p...
The salivary gland (SG) microvasculature constitutes a dynamic cellular organization instrumental to preserving tissue stability and homeostasis. The interplay between pericytes (PCs) and endothelial cells (ECs) culminates as a key ingredient that coordinates the development, maturation, and integrity of vessel building blocks. PCs, as a variety of...
Dental decay is the most prevalent oral disease worldwide since more than 2.4 billion people suffer from caries of permanent teeth. Therefore, any details about its progression into the hard-dental tissues could contribute to unravelling the mechanisms underlying this process. We have analyzed dental tissue sections with and without caries in order...
Background:
Telocytes (TCs) are a peculiar morphological type of stromal cells. They project long and moniliform telopodes, visible on various bidimensional sections. Originally regarded as "interstitial Cajal-like cells", gastrointestinal TCs were CD34+. Further double-labelling studies found that colon TCs are negative for the expressions of the...
This study aimed to assess the in vitro biocompatibility of titanium (Ti) alloy orthodontic mini-implants by correlating human osteoblasts (HOb) response with chemical composition and surface morphology of mini-implants. HOb were cultivated with or without custom-made and commercial mini-implants, discs and filings. The surface morphology and chemi...
An accurate identification of telocytes (TCs) was limited because of the heterogeneity of cell types expressing the markers attributed to TCs. Some endothelial lineage cells also could fit within the pattern of TCs. Such endothelial cells could line conjunctival lacunae previously assessed by laser confocal microscopy. We have been suggested that a...
This in vitro study aimed to evaluate and compare the dentine adhesion of two modern pulp capping materials: TheraCal LC (Bisco Inc. U.S.A.) and BioMTA (Cerkamed Poland). The samples have been prepared simulating in vivo conditions, in accordance with ISO/DIN standard protocols for this type of test. Twelve samples were prepared in this way, being...
Specific ultrastructural anatomy of masticatory muscles is commonly referred to a general pattern assigned to striated muscles. Junctional feet consisting of calcium channels of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (i.e. the ryanodine receptors, RyRs)physically connected to the calcium channels of the t-tubules build triads within striated muscles. Functiona...
This clinical study evaluated the outcome of bone regeneration using an open-healing approach. We performed
80 atraumatic extraction with socket preservation in n=69 patients (0.98 sex ratio). Post extraction sockets were
filled with platelet-rich autologous plasma factors Endoret® (PRGF®) clots covered with fibrin membrane and
were left exposed du...
Introduction: Correctly managed, immediate implant placement into fresh extraction
socket is a favorable treatment option in order to reduce the overall treatment time and to increase the patient's comfort and satisfaction. Methodology: Atraumatic extractions (N = 42) with socket preservation were performed in n = 40 patients (0.74 sex ratio) follo...
The presence of hyaline cartilage has been previously documented in heart tissue of different vertebrates, ranging from birds to superior mammals. However, there is scarce published data regarding the appearance of focal deposits of hyaline‐like cartilage within the hearts of laboratory rats. Few mechanisms that could trigger the appearance of this...
Stroma is viewed as the supportive framework of a predominant epithelial
organ, comprising mostly of connective tissue, blood vessels and nerves. Since
the discovery of telocytes one decade ago (Popescu and Faussone-Pellegrini J Cell
Mol Med 2010;14(4):729–40), their presence was proven in several exocrine gland
stromata, including major and minor...
This review aims to trace the contour lines of regenerative dentistry, to offer an introductory overview on this emerging field to both dental students and practitioners. The crystallized depiction of the concept is a translational approach, connecting dental academics to scientific research and clinical utility. Therefore, this review begins by pr...
Diamond like carbon (DLC) is an amorphous carbon material suitable for use in a variety of in vivo biomedical applications, which may constitute a step forward in biotechnology of dental or orthopedic implants. Previous in vitro studies focusing on DLC films demonstrate that cellular behavior on DLC is cell type specific. The aim of the present stu...
An innate osteogenic potential of the Schneiderian membrane (SM) is progressively assessed in studies ranging from non-human species to human subjects. It has relevance for endosteal placement and osseointegration. Nestin-expressing osteogenic progenitor cells are allegedly involved in bone formation and remodelling. Nestin phenotype was not assess...
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are defined by in vitro conditions which include their aherence to plastic. Stro-1 is one of the best known markers of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The cardiac stem cells are known to reside in atrial and ventricular niches. However, valvular stem niches of the heart are often overlooked. Similarly, the expression of...
Experimental studies regarding coronary embryogenesis suggest that the endocardium is a source of endothelial cells for the myocardial networks. As this was not previously documented in human embryos, we aimed to study whether or not endothelial tip cells could be correlated with endocardial-dependent mechanisms of sprouting angiogenesis. Six human...
Erst von Romberg was the first one to describe, in 1891, the pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as a “pulmonary vascular sclerosis”. Since than, several groups and sub-groups of the condition were defined, mostly based on clinical features. The latest classification was established in 2013 in Nice, France (Simonneau et al., 2013). The complete...
Telocytes represent a novel cellular type, discovered in the interstitial space. The peculiar ultrastructural features of telocytes include a small cellular body and very thin, long prolongations (telopodes). The moniliform aspect of telopodes is given by an alternation of thin segments (podomers, with a caliber below the resolving power of light m...
Introduction
A newly described type of interstitial cells – the telocytes – takes part in the repair/regenerative processes in several organs, including adult mammalian heart. Telocytes form a complex interstitial network, establishing hetero‐cellular contacts with resident stem/progenitor cells.
Methods
Immunohistochemistry, transmission electron...
Telocytes (TCs) are actually defined as being stromal cells with specific long and thin prolongations, called telopodes (Tp). They were positively identified in various tissues up to now. We report here for the first time the presence of TCs in the structure of esophagus. Such cells were identified under transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in es...
The parotid histological structure includes acinar, ductal, and myoepithelial cells, surrounded by a connective stromal component. The parotid stroma is mostly regarded as an inert shell, consisting of septa, which divide the parenchyma. Telocytes were recently identified as a new stromal cell type in various organs, including exocrine pancreas. We...
Pancreatic interstitial cells are located among acini, ducts, nerves, and blood vessels. They are essential for pancreas development, physiology, and for oncogenic microenvironment. We identified cells with characteristic ultrastructural features of telocytes in pancreatic interstitium. Telocytes were initially described as interstitial Cajal-like...
A distinctive stromal cell-type, the telocyte (TC), has recently been described to send specific long prolongations (telopodes) alternating thin segments (podomers) with dilations (podoms). Even though one would expect TCs to be identified in various stromal tissues, there were not yet reported evidence of skin TCs. We aimed to check for the presen...
Neuroregeneration is a relatively recent concept that includes neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and neurorestoration--implantation of viable cells as a therapeutical approach.
Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity are impaired in brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or Parkinson's Disease and correlate with low endogenous protection, as a...
Telocytes (TC) are interstitial cells with telopodes (Tp). These prolongations (Tp) are quite unique: very long (several tens of micrometres) and very thin (≤0.5 μm), with moniliform aspect: thin segments (podomeres) alternating with dilations (podoms). To avoid any confusion, TC were previously named interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLC). Myocardia...
In the last few years, a new cell type - interstitial Cajal-like cell (ICLC) - has been described in digestive and extra-digestive organs. The name has recently been changed to telocytes (TC) and their typical thin, long processes have been named telopodes (TP). To support the hypothesis that TC may also be present in human placenta and add to the...
The existence of the epicardial telocytes was previously documented by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or immunofluorescence. We have also demonstrated recently that telocytes are present in mice epicardium, within the cardiac stem-cell niches, and, possibly, they are acting as nurse cells for the cardiomyocyte progenitors. The rationale of this study w...
The assessment of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) as a marker of tumor aggressiveness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In this study, we examined the expression of Cav-1 in 34 human PDAC tissue samples and the associated peritumoral tissues by immunohistochemistry and western blot. Additionally, we correlated Cav-1 expression with other tissue (Ki-67...
A lot of studies reported a strong association between beverages consumption and dental erosion. The erosive effect of soft drinks depends on their composition, pH or on individual salivary flow rate. The main methods used for analysing this effect are: profilometry, which measuring the enamel loss during demineralisation, and microscopic analysis....
Questions
Questions (29)
How were these cells discovered?
Ramon y Cajal discovered a particular cell type in the gut, which he named ‘interstitial neurons’ more that 100 years ago. In the early 1970s, electron microscopy/electron microscope (EM) studies showed that indeed a special interstitial cell type corresponding to the cells discovered by Cajal is localized in the gut muscle coat, but it became obvious that they were not neurons. Consequently, they were renamed ‘interstitial cells of Cajal’ (ICC) and considered to be pace-makers for gut motility. For the past 10 years many groups were interested in whether or not ICC are present outside the gastrointestinal tract, and indeed, peculiar interstitial cells were found in: upper and lower urinary tracts, blood vessels, pancreas, male and female reproductive tracts, mammary gland, placenta, and, recently, in the heart as well as in the gut. Such cells, now mostly known as interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLC), were given different and confusing names.
Moreover, ICLC are only apparently similar to canonical ICC. In fact, EM and cell cultures revealed very particular features of ICLC, which unequivocally distinguishes them from ICC and all other interstitial cells: the presence of 2–5 cell body prolongations that are very thin (most of them with a diameter below 0.2 microns, under resolving power of light microscopy), extremely long (tens to hundreds of microns), with a moniliform aspect (many dilations along), as well as caveolae. Given the unique dimensions of these prolongations (very long and very thin) and to avoid further confusion with other interstitial cell types (e.g. fibroblast, fibrocyte, fibroblast-like cells, mesenchymal cells), we are proposing the term TELOCYTES for them, and TELOPODES for their prolongations, by using the Greek affix ‘telos’, meaning "goal", "end", "fullfilment".
.... more about their history and the current progress on telocytes' research you may find on www.telocytes.com
