Bryniarska-Kubiak Natalia, Basta-Kaim Agnieszka, Kubiak Andrzej
Laboratory of Immunoendocrinology, Department of Experimental Neuroendocrinology, Maj Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 12 Smętna St., 31-343 Kraków, Poland.
Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 7 Gronostajowa St., 30-387 Kraków, Poland.
Cells. 2024 Feb 21;13(5):375. doi: 10.3390/cells13050375.
The dental pulp is the inner part of the tooth responsible for properly functioning during its lifespan. Apart from the very big biological heterogeneity of dental cells, tooth microenvironments differ a lot in the context of mechanical properties-ranging from 5.5 kPa for dental pulp to around 100 GPa for dentin and enamel. This physical heterogeneity and complexity plays a key role in tooth physiology and in turn, is a great target for a variety of therapeutic approaches. First of all, physical mechanisms are crucial for the pain propagation process from the tooth surface to the nerves inside the dental pulp. On the other hand, the modulation of the physical environment affects the functioning of dental pulp cells and thus is important for regenerative medicine. In the present review, we describe the physiological significance of biomechanical processes in the physiology and pathology of dental pulp. Moreover, we couple those phenomena with recent advances in the fields of bioengineering and pharmacology aiming to control the functioning of dental pulp cells, reduce pain, and enhance the differentiation of dental cells into desired lineages. The reviewed literature shows great progress in the topic of bioengineering of dental pulp-although mainly in vitro. Apart from a few positions, it leaves a gap for necessary filling with studies providing the mechanisms of the mechanical control of dental pulp functioning in vivo.
牙髓是牙齿的内部结构，负责其在整个生命周期内的正常功能。除了牙齿细胞具有很大的生物学异质性外，牙齿微环境在力学性能方面也有很大差异——牙髓的力学性能为5.5千帕，而牙本质和牙釉质的力学性能约为100吉帕。这种物理异质性和复杂性在牙齿生理学中起着关键作用，反过来，也是多种治疗方法的重要靶点。首先，物理机制对于疼痛从牙齿表面传播到牙髓内部神经的过程至关重要。另一方面，物理环境的调节会影响牙髓细胞的功能，因此对再生医学很重要。在本综述中，我们描述了生物力学过程在牙髓生理学和病理学中的生理意义。此外，我们将这些现象与生物工程和药理学领域的最新进展相结合，旨在控制牙髓细胞的功能、减轻疼痛，并促进牙齿细胞向所需谱系分化。综述的文献表明，牙髓生物工程这一主题取得了很大进展——尽管主要是在体外。除了少数情况外，它还留下了空白，需要用提供体内牙髓功能力学控制机制的研究来填补。
