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Cells
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Signaling Regulation of Bone and Tooth Development
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Signaling Regulation of Bone and Tooth Development

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cell Signaling".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 4453

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Xiaofang Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Texas A&M College of Dentistry, Dallas, TX, USA
Interests: signaling regulation of bone and tooth development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bones and teeth belong to hard tissues. Both are formed by highly differentiated functional cells that secrete extracellular matrix and subsequently deposit crystallized minerals. However, their tissue origins, developmental processes, and corresponding signal regulatory mechanisms are quite different. Tooth development begins with the mutual induction between the dental epithelium and dental mesenchyme. This interaction continues throughout the development of the tooth crown and roots. The components of a tooth, including enamel, dentin-pulp complex, dental pulp, and cementum, each have their unique tissue structure and associated signal regulation mechanisms. The tissue origin of bone is more complex and involves both neural-crest-derived and mesoderm-derived mesenchymal cells. These cells either form cartilage as a template for endochondral ossification or directly initiate intramembranous ossification by forming ossification centers. The two types of bone formation exhibit distinct tissue morphologies and signal regulatory mechanisms along different developmental stages. The development and homeostasis of bone are also regulated by biomechanical forces, hematopoiesis, and the immune system through interactions with muscles, bone marrow, and the neurovascular system. This Special Issue aims to collect review and research articles which showcase recent advancements in understanding the signaling regulatory mechanisms of tooth and bone development, including, but not limited to, embryonic and postnatal development, tissue turnover and remodeling, matrix assembly and biomineralization, and interactions between bone and immune and endocrine systems, etc.

Dr. Xiaofang Wang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • bone
  • tooth
  • osteogenesis
  • odontogenesis
  • enamel
  • dentin
  • cementum
  • amelogenesis
  • dentinogenesis

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 15375 KiB  
Article
Fat Phagocytosis Promotes Anti-Inflammatory Responses of Macrophages in a Mouse Model of Osteonecrosis
by Zhuo Deng, Harry K. W. Kim, Paula A. Hernandez and Yinshi Ren
Cells 2024, 13(14), 1227; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13141227 - 20 Jul 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1698
Abstract
Osteonecrosis (ON) of the femoral head (ONFH) is a devastating bone disease affecting over 20 million people worldwide. ONFH is caused by a disruption of the blood supply, leading to necrotic cell death and increased inflammation. Macrophages are the key cells mediating the [...] Read more.
Osteonecrosis (ON) of the femoral head (ONFH) is a devastating bone disease affecting over 20 million people worldwide. ONFH is caused by a disruption of the blood supply, leading to necrotic cell death and increased inflammation. Macrophages are the key cells mediating the inflammatory responses in ON. It is unclear what the dynamic phenotypes of macrophages are and what mechanisms may affect macrophage polarization and, therefore, the healing process. In our preliminary study, we found that there is an invasion of macrophages into the repair tissue during ON healing. Interestingly, in both ONFH patients and a mouse ON model, fat was co-labeled within macrophages using immunofluorescence staining, indicating the phagocytosis of fat by macrophages. To study the effects of fat phagocytosis on the macrophage phenotype, we set up an in vitro macrophage and fat co-culture system. We found that fat phagocytosis significantly decreased M1 marker expression, such as IL1β and iNOS, in macrophages, whereas the expression of the M2 marker Arg1 was significantly increased with fat phagocytosis. To investigate whether the polarization change is indeed mediated by phagocytosis, we treated the cells with Latrunculin A (LA, which inhibits actin polymerization and phagocytosis). LA supplementation significantly reversed the polarization marker gene changes induced by fat phagocytosis. To provide an unbiased transcriptional gene analysis, we submitted the RNA for bulk RNA sequencing. Differential gene expression (DGE) analysis revealed that the top upregulated genes were related to anti-inflammatory responses, while proinflammatory genes were significantly downregulated. Additionally, using pathway enrichment and network analyses (Metascape), we confirmed that gene-enriched categories related to proinflammatory responses were significantly downregulated in macrophages with fat phagocytosis. Finally, we validated the similar macrophage phenotype changes in vivo. To summarize, we discovered that fat phagocytosis occurs in both ONFH patients and an ON mouse model, which inhibits proinflammatory responses with increased anabolic gene expression in macrophages. This fat-phagocytosis-induced macrophage phenotype is consistent with the in vivo changes shown in the ON mouse model. Our study reveals a novel phagocytosis-mediated macrophage polarization mechanism in ON, which fills in our knowledge gaps of macrophage functions and provides new concepts in macrophage immunomodulation as a promising treatment for ON. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signaling Regulation of Bone and Tooth Development)
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Review

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23 pages, 9402 KiB  
Review
Coupling of Intracellular Calcium Homeostasis and Formation and Secretion of Matrix Vesicles: Their Role in the Mechanism of Biomineralization
by Azzurra Margiotta
Cells 2025, 14(10), 733; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14100733 - 17 May 2025
Viewed by 162
Abstract
The human bone is a dynamic, highly vascularized tissue composed of 60–70% minerals, which include mainly calcium phosphate (CaP) in the form of hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals, 30% organic matrix composed of type I collagen fibers, and less than 5% water and lipids. The [...] Read more.
The human bone is a dynamic, highly vascularized tissue composed of 60–70% minerals, which include mainly calcium phosphate (CaP) in the form of hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals, 30% organic matrix composed of type I collagen fibers, and less than 5% water and lipids. The crystals are formed inside the matrix vesicles (MVs) and are then released in the organic collagen-based fibrous matrix. Extracellular matrix (ECM) formation and mineralization processes, named osteogenesis, are associated with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) undergoing differentiation into osteoblasts (osteoblastogenesis). Osteogenesis is regulated by multiple intracellular signaling and genetic pathways and by environmental factors. Calcium flow is finely regulated and plays a key role in both osteoblastogenesis and osteogenesis. The formation and accumulation of CaP, the biogenesis of MVs, their secretion, and the deposition of HA crystals to fill the organic bone matrix are the fundamental events in the biomineralization process. In this paper, I will describe and discuss the recent findings and hypothesis on the molecular mechanism regulating this process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signaling Regulation of Bone and Tooth Development)
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40 pages, 5543 KiB  
Review
Progress in Dentin-Derived Bone Graft Materials: A New Xenogeneic Dentin-Derived Material with Retained Organic Component Allows for Broader and Easier Application
by Lari Sapoznikov and Martin Humphrey
Cells 2024, 13(21), 1806; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13211806 - 31 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2030
Abstract
The optimal repair of rigid mineralized tissues, such as bone, in cases of fracture, surgical resection, or prosthetic placement, is a complex process often necessitating the use of bone graft materials. Autogenous bone from the patient is generally the gold standard in terms [...] Read more.
The optimal repair of rigid mineralized tissues, such as bone, in cases of fracture, surgical resection, or prosthetic placement, is a complex process often necessitating the use of bone graft materials. Autogenous bone from the patient is generally the gold standard in terms of outcomes but also has disadvantages, which have resulted in extensive research in the field of tissue engineering to develop better and more convenient alternatives. In the dental field, several initiatives have demonstrated that the dentin material derived from extracted teeth produces excellent results in terms of repairing bone defects and supporting dental implants. Dentin is acellular and thus, in contrast to autogenous bone, cannot provide osteoblasts or other cellular elements to the grafted region, but it does contain growth and differentiation factors, and has other properties that make it an impressive material for bone repair. In this review, the beneficial properties of dentin and the ways it interacts with the host bone are described in the context of bone graft materials. Autogenous tooth material has limitations, particularly in terms of the need for tooth extraction and the limited amount available, which currently restrict its use to particular dental procedures. The development of a xenograft dentin-derived material, which retains the properties of autogenous dentin, is described. Such a material could potentially enable the use of dentin-derived material more widely, particularly in orthopedic indications where its properties may be advantageous. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signaling Regulation of Bone and Tooth Development)
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