Autophagy and Oral Tissue Regeneration: A Comprehensive Review

Maintaining oral health is crucial for systemic health in humans, and stem cell-based oral tissue regeneration is a promising strategy for restoring impaired oral tissue. Physiologically and pathologically, autophagy induction, a highly conserved process of lysosomal degradation, regulates stem cell function. While autophagy activation can serve as a cytoprotective mechanism in stressful environments, insufficient or over-activation can impair cell function and cause cell death.

This review focuses on the effects of autophagy on stem cell function and oral tissue regeneration, emphasizing the diverse roles of autophagy in different oral tissues, including periodontal tissue, bone tissue, dentin pulp tissue, gingival tissue, and TMJ. Additionally, the review introduces the molecular mechanisms involved in autophagy during the regeneration of different parts of oral tissue and how autophagy can be regulated by small molecule drugs, biomaterials, exosomes/RNAs, or other specific treatments.

Finally, the review discusses new perspectives for autophagy manipulation and oral tissue regeneration. Overall, this review emphasizes the contribution of autophagy to oral tissue regeneration and highlights the possible approaches for regulating autophagy to promote the regeneration of human oral tissue.