Autophagy and Oral Tissue Regeneration: A Comprehensive Review

The oral cavity is a complex environment that requires constant remodeling and regeneration, making autophagy crucial for oral tissue regeneration. The presence of numerous bacterial colonizers in the oral cavity can lead to various oral diseases caused by bacterial infection and subsequent immune reaction. Studies have shown that autophagy plays a vital role in controlling the burden of infectious agents, limiting inflammatory pathologies, regulating myeloid/lymphoid cell differentiation, and coordinating multicellular immunity. Additionally, autophagy also contributes to the repairment of damaged tissue, highlighting its critical role in oral tissue regeneration.

Despite numerous studies exploring the role of autophagy in oral diseases and oral tissue regeneration, no systematic reviews have been conducted on the topic. Therefore, in this study, we focus on the contribution of autophagy to stem cell regulation and oral tissue regeneration. We discuss the importance of autophagy in reducing the survival stress of oral stem cells and provide an overview of the autophagy machinery in eukaryotes. We also review how autophagy contributes to various components of oral tissue regeneration, including the molecular mechanisms involved.

Furthermore, we discuss how small molecule drugs, biomaterials, exosomes/RNAs, and other specific treatments can regulate autophagy to improve oral tissue regeneration. Finally, we highlight the need for mechanistic studies to investigate how autophagy contributes to oral tissue regeneration for therapeutic purposes. Our review provides new insights into human tissue regeneration and may aid further autophagy studies on oral tissue and other tissue regeneration.