Abstract
The apical papilla is a stem cell rich tissue located at the base of the developing dental root and is responsible for the progressive elongation and maturation of the root. The multipotent stem cells of the apical papilla (SCAP) are extensively studied in cell culture since they demonstrate a high capacity for osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation and are thus an attractive stem cell source for stem cell-based therapies. Currently, only few studies are dedicated to determining the role of the apical papilla in dental root development. In this review, we will focus on the architecture of the apical papilla and describe the specific SCAP signaling pathways involved in root maturation. Furthermore, we will explore the heterogeneity of the SCAP phenotype within the tissue and determine their micro-environmental interaction. Understanding the mechanism of postnatal dental root growth could further aid in developing novel strategies in dental root regeneration.
Highlights
Dental tooth development can be subdivided into different steps and starts with the formation of the crown during the bud, cap and bell stages
Complete elongation and maturation of the dental root is guided by the apical papilla (Figure 1) which originates from the ectomesenchyme (Huang et al, 2008)
The pathology of short root anomaly is recognized by the development of abnormal short roots with a blunt appearance (Yu et al, 2021) and is a consequence of a dysregulation of nuclear factor 1 C-type, Osx, bone morphogenetic protein, TGF-β, Wntβ catenin, and DKK1
Summary
Faculty of Medicine, Hasselt University, Biomedical Research Institute, Cardio and Organ Systems, Hasselt, Belgium. The apical papilla is a stem cell rich tissue located at the base of the developing dental root and is responsible for the progressive elongation and maturation of the root. The multipotent stem cells of the apical papilla (SCAP) are extensively studied in cell culture since they demonstrate a high capacity for osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation and are an attractive stem cell source for stem cell-based therapies. Only few studies are dedicated to determining the role of the apical papilla in dental root development. We will focus on the architecture of the apical papilla and describe the specific SCAP signaling pathways involved in root maturation. We will explore the heterogeneity of the SCAP phenotype within the tissue and determine their micro-environmental interaction. Understanding the mechanism of postnatal dental root growth could further aid in developing novel strategies in dental root regeneration
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