title: The Epigenetic Regulation in Tooth Development and Regeneration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tooth loss occurs with age and significantly impacts the quality of elderly's life both physically and psychologically. It has been well known that odontogenesis is a complicated process with sequential and reciprocal interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal tissues and different types of dental tissue-derived stem cells involve in it. However, only a small portion of the intricate mechanisms has been defined nowadays. Among them, epigenetics has become an increasingly important mechanism for tooth development and regeneration.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This review aims at illustrating the function of epigenetic regulation in odontogenesis, which plays an important role in dental tissue-derived stem cell self-renewal and differentiation nowadays and would be a new strategy for tooth regeneration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this review, we introduced the natural process of tooth development and the functions of stem cells involved in. Furthermore, we summarized the current knowledge on epigenetic regulation including DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNAs during odontogenesis, providing the theoretical basis for tooth regeneration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Along with a deeper understanding of odontogenesis, the epigenetic mechanism involved in has become increasingly important. Therefore, it's necessary to further study the functions of epigenetic regulation in tooth development and regeneration, which may make tooth regeneration a reality in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guangzhou, 510055, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Liwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710032, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, 111 Liuhua Road, Guangzhou 510010, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomaterials of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guangzhou, 510055, China.
authors.forename: Jiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guangzhou, 510055, China.
authors.forename: Jiahua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guangzhou, 510055, China.
authors.forename: Jiali
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D009805:Odontogenesis; D012038:Regeneration; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D014070:Tooth / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Epigenetics; non-coding RNAs; odontogenesis; tooth development; tooth regeneration; tooth-derived stem cells