Autophagy and Oral Tissue Regeneration: Mechanisms, Regulation, and Therapeutic Potential

This review focuses on autophagy's contribution to stem cell regulation and oral tissue regeneration. We discuss the role of autophagy in alleviating survival stress in oral stem cells and provide an overview of the autophagy machinery in eukaryotes. We also review how autophagy contributes to different components of oral tissue regeneration. We introduce the molecular mechanisms involved in autophagy-regulated oral tissue regeneration and explore methods for regulating autophagy, such as with small molecule drugs, biomaterials, exosomes/RNAs, or other specific treatments.

Finally, we discuss new perspectives on autophagy manipulation and oral tissue regeneration. However, the exact mechanism through which autophagy contributes to oral tissue regeneration remains unclear, and further mechanistic studies are necessary for therapeutic purposes. This review aims to provide new insights into human tissue regeneration and may be helpful in further autophagy studies on oral tissue and other tissue regeneration.