Dpscs Promote The Repair Of Severed Facial Nerve Injury

The repair of long-distance facial nerve defects remains a clinical challenge. The construction of tissue-engineered nerve graft (TENG) using dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) as supporting cells provides a new strategy. However, the role and mechanism of DPSCs in injury repair remain to be clarified. A porous composite conduit was prepared by electrospinning technology. Stem cell factor (SCF) and DPSCs were implanted to complete the loading of active ingredients. The TENG was connected to a facial nerve injury model of 10 mm. After 4 weeks, the functional recovery was assessed by facial hair direction, HE and Masson staining. Immunohistochemical staining and TEM was used to evaluate the nerve regeneration. Transcriptome sequencing technology and KEGG enrichment analysis were used to explore the mechanism of DPSCS. SEM, CCK-8 and IF staining experiments indicated that when the mass ratio of PVA to CS was 9:1 and the G concentration was 0.05 mg/mL, the conduit exhibited uniform morphology with optimal cell compatibility. 4 weeks after surgery, nerve function recovery in the TENG group was better than that in the empty conduit group. Additionally, nerve tissue regeneration in the TENG group was also significantly enhanced(P<0.05). KEGG analysis indicated that PPAR signaling pathway may be involved in the neurogenic differentiation of DPSCs. DPSCs can enhance the repair effect of the TENG in this study and PPAR signaling pathway may be involved in regulating the neurotropic differentiation of DPSCs to enhance the repair effect.