Dental pulp stem cells promote genioglossus repair and systemic amelioration in chronic intermittent hypoxia

• Published in: iScience Vol. 27; no. 11; p. 111143
• Main Authors: Zhang, Meng-Han, Zhang, Wei-Hua, Lu, Yun, Yu, Li-Ming, Han, Xin-Xin, Xu, Yan, Wu, Meng-Jie, Ding, Wang-Hui, Liu, Yue-Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.11.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Cell biology; Molecular biology; Stem cells research; Cell biology; Molecular biology; Stem cells research
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111143

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) leads to chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) and is not well addressed by current therapies. The genioglossus (GG) is the largest upper airway dilator controlling OSA pathology, making its repair a potential treatment. This study investigates dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in repairing GG injury in a CIH mouse model. We induced DPSCs to myogenic lineage cells (iDPSCs) and transplanted them into GG of CIH mice. DPSCs/iDPSCs grafts improved EMGGG and muscle type transitions while reducing tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine kinase (CK) levels, improving body weight. Moreover, iDPSCs increased Pax7+/Ki67+ and human-derived STEM121 cells in the GG compared with DPSCs. DPSCs/iDPSCs enhanced Desmin+ myotube formation in myoblasts under hypoxia in vitro, with iDPSCs increased human-derived myogenic markers and nuclei in myotubes. These results indicate that iDPSCs, beyond their paracrine effects like DPSCs, directly participate in myogenic differentiation, supporting the potential use of DPSCs for OSA treatment. [Display omitted] •DPSCs/iDPSCs improve EMGGG, muscle fiber type transition, systemic inflammation in CIH mice•iDPSCs enhance GG repair in CIH mice by elevating expression of MyoD and Pax7 vs. DPSCs•Both DPSCs and iDPSCs promote muscle regeneration via paracrine effects•iDPSCs directly aid myogenic differentiation, seen human-derived myogenic transcripts Molecular biology; Cell biology; Stem cells research