Previous in vi tro studies demonstrated that H202 or carbamide peroxide cou ld penetrate i nto pul p chambers through enamel and dentin (Benetti et a l., 2004; G okay et a l. , 2004‘ Suli eman et al .. 2005) ‘ Recently. Lee et al.(2006) demonstrated that H20Z enhanced the diffe rentiation of odontoblast like cell line, whereas it inhibited osteogenic diffe rentiation in pre 。steobl astic cell line, as seen by its efl"ecLs on an early difï"erentiation marker. ALP activity. I-lowever. the effects of HZ02 have not been well elucidated in primary cultured human pulp cells ln th is study‘ we investigated whether HO- 1 is involved in H20 2-induced cytotoxicity and examined the production 0 1" dent in sia lophosphoprotein (DSPP) and other minera li zation markers, in human pulp cells H20Z dec1'eased cell viabili ty. but increased HO-l and DSPP expression in a concentra t ion and time dependent manner. Inhibitors of guanylate cyclase, PI3K. ERK, and p38 MAP kinase blocked J-!?,0 2- induced cytot oxicity and the expression of HO-1 and DSPP mRNAs in pulp cells. These data suggest that t he induction of HO-l by H202 in pu lp cells plays a protective role against the cytotoxic effects of H202 and stimulates DSPP expression. resulting in prematu re oclontoblast differentiation th rough pathways t hat involve cGMP. p38. ancl ERK