Mechanics and Mechanisms of Mouse Incisor Growth and Repair
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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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 the 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, spatial transcriptomics and lineage tracing, we reveal new mechanisms responsible for the detection of injury and we provide new insights into the mechanical, cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the acceleration of tooth growth. Our research approaches the study of continuously growing teeth from a new interdisciplinary perspective. These results shed light on the large complexity of biological and mechanical processes standing behind the regulation of continuous tooth growth and suggest a new insight into stem cell niche activation from a more general perspective. |
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