Regenerative medicine using patient's own stem cells (SCs) to repair dysfunctional tissues is an attractive approach to complement surgical and pharmacological treatments for aging and degenerative disorders. Recently, dental SCs have drawn much attention owing to their accessibility, plasticity and applicability for regenerative use not only for dental, but also other body tissues. In ophthalmology, there has been increasing interest to differentiate dental pulp SC and periodontal ligament SC (PDLSC) towards ocular lineage. Both can commit to retinal fate expressing eye field transcription factors and generate rhodopsin-positive photoreceptor-like cells. This proposes a novel therapeutic alternative for retinal degeneration diseases. Moreover, as PDLSC shares similar cranial neural crest origin and proteoglycan secretion with corneal stromal keratoctyes and corneal endothelial cells, this offers the possibility of differentiating PDLSC to these corneal cell types. The advance could lead to a shift in the medical management of corneal opacities and endothelial disorders from highly invasive corneal transplantation using limited donor tissue to cell therapy utilizing autologous cells. This article provides an overview of dental SC research and the perspective of utilizing dental SCs for ocular regenerative medicine.

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牙科干细胞：眼部细胞治疗的未来资产

使用患者自身干细胞 (SC) 修复功能失调组织的再生医学是一种有吸引力的方法，可以补充针对衰老和退行性疾病的手术和药物治疗。最近，牙科 SCs 因其可访问性、可塑性和可再生性的适用性而备受关注，不仅可用于牙齿，还可用于其他身体组织。在眼科中，将牙髓 SC 和牙周韧带 SC (PDLSC) 与眼部谱系区分开来的兴趣越来越大。两者都可以致力于表达眼场转录因子的视网膜命运并产生视紫红质阳性感光细胞样细胞。这为视网膜变性疾病提出了一种新的治疗选择。而且，由于 PDLSC 与角膜基质角膜切开术和角膜内皮细胞具有相似的颅神经嵴起源和蛋白多糖分泌，这提供了将 PDLSC 区分为这些角膜细胞类型的可能性。这一进展可能导致角膜混浊和内皮疾病的医疗管理从使用有限供体组织的高侵入性角膜移植转变为使用自体细胞的细胞治疗。本文概述了牙科 SC 研究以及利用牙科 SC 进行眼部再生医学的观点。这一进展可能导致角膜混浊和内皮疾病的医疗管理从使用有限供体组织的高侵入性角膜移植转变为使用自体细胞的细胞治疗。本文概述了牙科 SC 研究以及利用牙科 SC 进行眼部再生医学的观点。这一进展可能导致角膜混浊和内皮疾病的医疗管理从使用有限供体组织的高侵入性角膜移植转变为使用自体细胞的细胞治疗。本文概述了牙科 SC 研究以及利用牙科 SC 进行眼部再生医学的观点。