Profiling and functional characterization of long noncoding RNAs during human tooth development
The regulatory processes in developmental biology research are significantly influenced by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). However, the dynamics of lncRNA expression during human tooth development remain poorly understood. In this research, we examined the lncRNAs present in the dental epithelium (DE) and dental mesenchyme (DM) at the late bud, cap, and early bell stages of human fetal tooth development through bulk RNA sequencing. Developmental regulators co-expressed with neighboring lncRNAs were significantly enriched in odontogenesis. Specific lncRNAs expressed in the DE and DM, such as PANCR, MIR205HG, DLX6-AS1, and DNM3OS, were identified through a combination of bulk RNA sequencing and single-cell analysis. Further subcluster analysis revealed lncRNAs specifically expressed in important regions of the tooth germ, such as the inner enamel epithelium and coronal dental papilla (CDP). Functionally, we demonstrated that CDP-specific DLX6-AS1 enhanced odontoblastic differentiation in human tooth germ mesenchymal cells and dental pulp stem cells. These findings suggest that lncRNAs could serve as valuable cell markers for tooth development and potential therapeutic targets for tooth regeneration.
Authors
- Zongshan Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2652-3507)
- Xiaoshan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7003-0884)
- Chuanbao Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0011-2729)
- Xiuge Gu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8979-5182)
- Yuanyuan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7657-1625)
- Wei Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3117-9598)
- Jinsong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0196-2581)
- Songlin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7066-2654)
- Chunmei Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0882-9361)
- Suwen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8083-0052)
- Lei Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4710-3707)
- Ran Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6783-2712)
- Jing Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2215-0603)
- Haijing Zhou
Institutions
- Central South University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Capital Medical University (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases (CN)
- National Clinical Research (US)
- Stomatology Hospital (CN)
- Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital (CN)
- South University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Oral Science
- Published
- 2025-05-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41368-025-00375-7
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.75
Funders
- National Key Research and Development Program of China