Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Dental Pulp and Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells [scRNA-seq]

In this study, we investigated the heterogeneity of DPSC and PDLSC cells using scRNA-seq and characterized the molecular features of each cell group. Combining the analyses of trajectory route and scoring, our results demonstrated that DPSCs displayed higher differentiation potentials, while PDLSCs exhibited more matured features. These findings provide a new insight into the complex landscape and functions of oral stem cells, which would enrich our understaning on their roles in embryonic development and regeneration of lost tissues due to dental and periodontal infections. In this study, we performed scRNA-seq of DPSCs and PDLSCs profiles to dissect their heterogeneity at the single cell level and characterized features of different cell populations, including expression profiles of featured genes and differentiation potentials, using state-of-the-art bioinformatics methods.

本研究采用单细胞RNA测序（single-cell RNA sequencing, scRNA-seq）技术，探究牙髓干细胞（Dental Pulp Stem Cells, DPSC）与牙周膜干细胞（Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells, PDLSC）的细胞异质性，并解析各细胞亚群的分子特征。结合细胞轨迹分析与细胞打分分析结果，本研究证实牙髓干细胞具有更高的分化潜能，而牙周膜干细胞则呈现更为成熟的细胞特征。上述发现为解析口腔干细胞的复杂图谱与功能提供了全新视角，有助于丰富我们对其在胚胎发育以及牙与牙周感染所致组织缺损再生修复中作用的认知。
本研究获取了牙髓干细胞与牙周膜干细胞的单细胞RNA测序表达谱，借助前沿生物信息学方法，解析其单细胞水平的细胞异质性，并表征了不同细胞亚群的特征，包括特征基因表达谱与分化潜能。