Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Cells. 2023 Jul 14;12(14):1851. doi: 10.3390/cells12141851.
The odontoblastic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) associated with caries injury happens in an inflammatory context. We recently demonstrated that there is a link between inflammation and dental tissue regeneration, identified via enhanced DPSC-mediated dentinogenesis in vitro. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a nerve growth factor-related gene family molecule which functions through tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB). While the roles of BDNF in neural tissue repair and other regeneration processes are well identified, its role in dentinogenesis has not been explored. Furthermore, the role of BDNF receptor-TrkB in inflammation-induced dentinogenesis remains unknown. The role of BDNF/TrkB was examined during a 17-day odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs. Human DPSCs were subjected to odontogenic differentiation in dentinogenic media treated with inflammation inducers (LTA or TNFα), BDNF, and a TrkB agonist (LM22A-4) and/or antagonist (CTX-B). Our data show that BDNF and TrkB receptors affect the early and late stages of the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs. Immunofluorescent data confirmed the expression of BDNF and TrkB in DPSCs. Our ELISA and qPCR data demonstrate that TrkB agonist treatment increased the expression of dentin matrix protein-1 (DMP-1) during early DPSC odontoblastic differentiation. Coherently, the expression levels of runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX-2) and osteocalcin (OCN) were increased. TNFα, which is responsible for a diverse range of inflammation signaling, increased the levels of expression of dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) and DMP1. Furthermore, BDNF significantly potentiated its effect. The application of CTX-B reversed this effect, suggesting TrkB`s critical role in TNFα-mediated dentinogenesis. Our studies provide novel findings on the role of BDNF-TrkB in the inflammation-induced odontoblastic differentiation of DPSCs. This finding will address a novel regulatory pathway and a therapeutic approach in dentin tissue engineering using DPSCs.
牙髓干细胞(DPSCs)的成牙本质分化与龋损伤有关,发生在炎症环境中。我们最近的研究表明,炎症与牙组织再生之间存在联系,这是通过体外增强 DPSCs 介导的牙本质生成来确定的。脑源性神经营养因子(BDNF)是一种神经营养因子相关基因家族分子,通过原肌球蛋白受体激酶 B(TrkB)发挥作用。虽然 BDNF 在神经组织修复和其他再生过程中的作用已得到充分证实,但它在牙本质生成中的作用尚未得到探索。此外,BDNF 受体-TrkB 在炎症诱导的牙本质生成中的作用尚不清楚。在 DPSCs 的 17 天成牙本质分化过程中,研究了 BDNF/TrkB 的作用。将人 DPSCs 置于牙源性分化培养基中,用炎症诱导剂(LTA 或 TNFα)、BDNF 和 TrkB 激动剂(LM22A-4)和/或拮抗剂(CTX-B)处理,进行牙源性分化。我们的数据表明,BDNF 和 TrkB 受体影响 DPSCs 成牙本质分化的早期和晚期阶段。免疫荧光数据证实了 BDNF 和 TrkB 在 DPSCs 中的表达。我们的 ELISA 和 qPCR 数据表明,TrkB 激动剂处理增加了早期 DPSCs 成牙本质分化过程中牙本质基质蛋白-1(DMP-1)的表达。一致地, runt 相关转录因子 2(RUNX-2)和骨钙素(OCN)的表达水平增加。负责多种炎症信号的 TNFα增加了牙本质涎磷蛋白(DSPP)和 DMP1 的表达水平。此外,BDNF 显著增强了其作用。CTX-B 的应用逆转了这种作用,表明 TrkB 在 TNFα 介导的牙本质生成中起着关键作用。我们的研究提供了 BDNF-TrkB 在炎症诱导的 DPSCs 成牙本质分化中的作用的新发现。这一发现将为利用 DPSCs 进行牙本质组织工程提供新的调控途径和治疗方法。