Published online Oct 26, 2020. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v12.i10.1214
Peer-review started: March 18, 2020
First decision: July 5, 2020
Revised: August 6, 2020
Accepted: September 1, 2020
Article in press: September 1, 2020
Published online: October 26, 2020
Processing time: 221 Days and 22.6 Hours
The proteomic signature or profile best describes the functional component of a cell during its routine metabolic and survival activities. Additional complexity in differentiation and maturation is observed in stem/progenitor cells. The role of functional proteins at the cellular level has long been attributed to anatomical niches, and stem cells do not deflect from this attribution. Human dental stem cells (hDSCs), on the whole, are a combination of mesenchymal and epithelial coordinates observed throughout craniofacial bones to pulp.
To specify the proteomic profile and compare each type of hDSC with other mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of various niches. Furthermore, we analyzed the characteristics of the microenvironment and preconditioning changes associated with the proteomic profile of hDSCs and their influence on committed lineage differentiation.
Literature searches were performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, from January 1990 to December 2018. An extra inquiry of the grey literature was completed on Google Scholar, ProQuest, and OpenGrey. Relevant MeSH terms (PubMed) and keywords related to dental stem cells were used independently and in combination.
The initial search resulted in 134 articles. Of the 134 full-texts assessed, 96 articles were excluded and 38 articles that met the eligibility criteria were reviewed. The overall assessment of hDSCs and other MSCs suggests that differences in the proteomic profile can be due to stem cellular complexity acquired from varied tissue sources during embryonic development. However, our comparison of the proteomic profile suffered inconsistencies due to the heterogeneity of various hDSCs. We believe that the existence of a heterogeneous population of stem cells at a given niche determines the modalities of regeneration or tissue repair. Added prominences to the differences present between various hDSCs have been reasoned out.
Systematic review on proteomic studies of various hDSCs are promising as an eye-opener for revisiting the proteomic profile and in-depth analysis to elucidate more refined mechanisms of hDSC functionalities.
Core Tip: Neural crest-derived dental stem cells (DSCs) are ubiquitously present around the tooth anlage, are spatiotemporally related to each other, and possess the potential for self-renewal and ability to differentiate into different cell types and lineages under suitable microenvironments. Unearthing the spectrum, cascade and arrays of proteins present in these stem cells at different stages of tooth development and all the post-translational modifications of these proteins is possible by proteomics. Here, we present a systematic review on proteomic studies of various DSCs. Emphases on the differences present between various DSCs have been reasoned out.