How is the renewal of ever-growing teeth controlled? Integrating the concepts of regeneration and repair
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Continuously growing mouse incisors, have for decades served as a model system for investigating the mechanisms of regeneration and studying the stem cell niche. It has been shown that the growth rate of these teeth does not always proceed at the same pace, but can be accelerated following injury. However, the dynamics of growth acceleration, the mechanisms responsible for damage detection and subsequent process of stem cell niche activation remains entirely unresolved. Here, we provide new insights into the dynamics of mouse incisor regeneration, both in healthy (non-damaged) tooth and after its injury. To quantify incisor growth, we have invented a new method (BEE-ST: Bones and tEEth Spatio-Temporal growth monitoring approach) that allows to monitor the growth and healing dynamics of any hard tissue on micrometre scale in both space and time. Subsequently, using an interdisciplinary approach involving mathematical modelling, single-cell RNA-sequencing and lineage tracing, we reveal new mechanisms responsible for the detection of injury and we provide new insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the acceleration of the growth. These results give a better understanding of mechanisms controlling hard tissue growth, stem cell niche homeostasis and could also reveal the processes underlying stem cell niche activation in a more general perspective. |
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