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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Cell and Gene Therapy
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1535245
This article is part of the Research Topic Advanced Technologies for Oral and Craniomaxillofacial Therapy View all 5 articles

The Landscape of Cell Regulatory and Communication Networks in the Human Dental Follicle

Provisionally accepted
Jianing Liu Jianing Liu Jiong-Yi Tian Jiong-Yi Tian Lu Liu Lu Liu Yuan Cao Yuan Cao Xiao Lei Xiao Lei Xiao-Hui Zhang Xiao-Hui Zhang Zi-Qi Zhang Zi-Qi Zhang Jun-Xi He Jun-Xi He Chenxi Zheng Chenxi Zheng Chao Ma Chao Ma Shengfeng Bai Shengfeng Bai Bingdong Sui Bingdong Sui *Fang Jin Fang Jin *Ji Chen Ji Chen
  • Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The dental follicle localizes surrounding the enamel organ and dental papilla of the developing tooth germ during embryonic stage. It can differentiate and develop to form the periodontal ligament, cementum, and alveolar bone tissues. Postnatally, the dental follicle gradually degenerates but some parts of the dental follicle remain around the impacted tooth.However, the specific cellular components and the intricate regulatory mechanisms governing the postnatal development and biological function of the dental follicle have not been completely understood.We analyzed dental follicles with single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to reveal their cellular constitution molecular signatures by cell cycle analysis, scenic analysis, gene enrichment analysis and cell communication analysis. Ten cell clusters were identified with differential characteristics, among which immune and vessel-related cells, as well as a stem cell population, were revealed as main cell types. Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) were established and defined four regulon modules underlying dental tissue development and microenvironmental regulation, including vascular and immune responses. Cell-cell communication analysis unraveled crosstalk between vascular and immune cell components in orchestrating the dental follicle biological activities, potentially based on COLLAGAN-CD44 ligand-receptor pairs, as well as ANGPTL1-ITGA/ITGB ligand-receptor pairs.We establish a landscape of cell regulatory and communication networks in the human dental follicle, providing mechanistic insights into the cellular regulation and 4 interactions in the complex dental follicle tissue microenvironment.

    Keywords: Dental follicle, single-cell RNA sequencing, Gene Regulatory Networks, cell-cell communication, vasculature, immune Redness or Swelling

    Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Tian, Liu, Cao, Lei, Zhang, Zhang, He, Zheng, Ma, Bai, Sui, Jin and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Bingdong Sui, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
    Fang Jin, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China

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