{"doi":"10.3389/fcell.2025.1695340","title":"Editorial: Advances in dental pulp stem cell biology and applications","abstract":"Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are a type of mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (MSCs) found in the tooth's innermost layer. Discovered in 2000, they have gained attention for their high proliferation rate, strong differentiation potential, and ease of access (1). DPSCs have shown promise in regenerative medicine applications like dental tissue regeneration, cardiac and bone repair. Because their origin from ectomesenchyme, also have neurogenic capabilities, suggesting their potential use in neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, due to the restorative properties of DPSCs, as well as their immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, pro-angiogenic, and tropic abilities, considerable efforts have been made to introduce advanced MSC-based therapy into clinical practice. Current research is now centered on unravelling the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern their actions, as well as exploring the role of external factors and extracellular matrix components in DPSCs fate and the applications of DPSCs in tissue regeneration, also using specific scaffolds and delivery systems for enhancing DPSC-based tissue engineering. This research topic summarizes recent developments in this field and looks at the relationship between fundamental biology and novel therapeutic approaches. One of the biggest hurdles in using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for clinical therapies is the inconsistency of results in clinical trials. This is primarily due to the natural heterogeneity of MSCs, which varies based on the donor, tissue source, and the cells' current state (2). Furthermore, differences in how the cells are isolated, cultured, and expanded can alter their function (3, 4). A study by Mitek et al. on periodontal ligament MSCs (PDL-MSCs) highlighted the importance of using specific markers, like CD146 to isolate subpopulations with superior proliferation and osteogenic differentiation potential (5). Researchers observed that critical variables such as cellular density or confluence can negatively affect the percentage of CD146+ cells, thereby impacting cellular potential. They also found that CD146 expression can be influenced by inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α. Although this study was on PDL-MSCs, CD146 could be considered a reliable marker for identifying a subpopulation with superior osteogenic differentiation potential. Therefore, a key area for future research in this field is the identification of specific markers to isolate more powerful subpopulations for use in regenerative therapies. Researchers are also looking into how epigenetics plays a part in how cells change. A thorough review highlighted that key epigenetic mechanisms like DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs (miRNAs and lncRNAs) act as molecular switches that control the differentiation of DPSCs (6). For instance, DNA demethylation and histone acetylation activate essential dentin formation genes (DSPP and DMP1), suggesting the potential for developing targeted therapies that can actively modulate these mechanisms to enhance regeneration. Moreover, this review explores the potential involvement of histone modifications, particularly methylation and acetylation, in regulating the chromatin structure and gene expression that drives the differentiation of DPSCs reporting how histone acetylation, catalysed by enzymes such as p300, can relax chromatin structure and activate essential differentiation genes. It has also been documented that HDAC inhibitors (HDACis) can affect gene expression by regulating histone acetylation levels, thereby influencing the differentiation and proliferation of DPSCs. This shows great promise for pulp regeneration. (7-9). Regarding the function of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), it has been reported that the lncRNA ANCR inhibits odontogenic differentiation, whereas the lncRNA MALAT1 promotes it (10-12). This review is of fundamental importance because it shift","journal":"Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology","year":2025,"id":575924,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9528,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1484099,"name":"Fanny Pulcini","orcid":"0000-0001-6841-0522","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1260921,"name":"Anne George","orcid":"0000-0002-8486-8186","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1484098,"name":"Simona Delle Monache","orcid":"0000-0002-8153-915X","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":10,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:57:52.712371Z","pmid":"41081042","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}