Autophagy's Role in Oral Tissue Regeneration: A Comprehensive Review

The oral cavity is a unique environment that requires consistently remodeling and generation, which means autophagy is required in oral tissue regeneration. What’s more, the oral cavity usually contains a large number of bacterial colonizers. Many oral diseases are caused by bacterial infection and subsequent immune reaction [14]. Many studies reported that autophagy is involved in controlling the burden of infectious agents (including some intracellular pathogens), limiting inflammatory pathologies, regulating myeloid/lymphoid cell differentiation, and coordinating multicellular immunity [14]. Combined with the role of autophagy in the repairment of damaged tissue, we may conclude that autophagy has a close association with oral tissue regeneration. Although many studies have explored the role of autophagy in oral diseases and oral tissue regeneration, there have been no systematic reviews on the role of autophagy in oral tissue regeneration.

Therefore, this review aims to summarize the current understanding of the relationship between autophagy and oral tissue regeneration, and to provide a comprehensive overview of the potential mechanisms by which autophagy affects oral tissue regeneration. By reviewing the literature, we found that autophagy plays a crucial role in oral tissue regeneration by regulating various cellular processes, including apoptosis, inflammation, and differentiation. Moreover, autophagy can also promote the proliferation and migration of oral tissue cells, which are essential processes for tissue regeneration. Therefore, targeting autophagy may provide a potential therapeutic approach for oral diseases and tissue regeneration. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the exact mechanisms by which autophagy regulates oral tissue regeneration, and to develop more specific and effective therapeutic strategies based on autophagy modulation.