Adaptive mechanisms of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in response to oral disease: Evaluating chitosan-calcium zirconium nanoparticle biomaterials for tissue engineering

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the adaptive strategies employed by dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in response to oral disease conditions, focusing on their survival and proliferation. DPSCs possess regenerative potential and play a crucial role in the repair and regeneration of dental tissues. The study explores the coping mechanisms of DPSCs under oral disease conditions using a chitosan-based biomaterial reinforced with calcium zirconium nanoparticles (CZNP). The investigation assesses the viability and proliferation of DPSCs in the presence of oral disease conditions and evaluates the performance of the chitosan-CZNP biomaterial. The study presents the characterization and performance evaluation of drug-loaded biomaterials with varying weight percentages of CZNP. Parameters such as porosity, drug release, fracture toughness, tensile strength, degradation rate, and apatite formation are examined. The results demonstrate that increasing the weight percentage of CZNP leads to higher porosity and drug release while maintaining or enhancing fracture toughness, tensile strength, and apatite formation. Notably, the biomaterial containing 7.5 wt% CZNP exhibits the highest drug release, fracture toughness, and apatite formation. These findings suggest that the chitosan-CZNP biomaterial effectively supports the survival and proliferation of DPSCs under oral disease conditions. An artificial neural network (ANN) is employed to predict the properties of samples with different weight percentages and apatite formation. The ANN successfully estimates the degradation rate, tensile strength, fracture toughness, drug release, and porosity of the samples. This research enhances our understanding of the coping mechanisms of DPSCs and highlights the potential of chitosan-CZNP biomaterials in oral tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Further investigations are warranted to explore the long-term effects and clinical applications of these biomaterials in the treatment of oral diseases.