Beyond energy production, nutrient metabolism plays a crucial role in stem cell lineage determination. Changes in metabolism based on nutrient availability and dietary habits impact stem cell identity. Evidence suggests a strong link between metabolism and epigenetic mechanisms occurring during embryonic development and later life of offspring. Metabolism regulates epigenetic mechanisms such as modifications of DNA, histones, and microRNAs. In turn, these epigenetic mechanisms regulate metabolic pathways to modify the metabolome. One-carbon metabolism (OCM) is a crucial metabolic process involving transfer of the methyl groups leading to regulation of multiple cellular activities. OCM cycles and its related micronutrients are ubiquitously present in stem cells and feed into the epigenetic mechanisms. In this review, we briefly introduce the OCM process and involved micronutrients and discuss OCM-associated epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNAs. We further consider the underlying OCM-mediated link between nutrition and epigenetic modifications in embryonic development.

As a novel research hotspot in tissue regeneration, dental-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are famous for their accessibility, multipotent differentiation ability, and high proliferation. However, cellular heterogeneity is a major obstacle to the clinical application of dental-derived MSCs. Here, we reviewed the heterogeneity of dental-derived MSCs firstly and then discussed the key markers and epigenetic modifications related to the proliferation, differentiation, immunomodulation, and aging of dental-derived MSCs. These messages help to control the composition and function of dental-derived MSCs and thus accelerate the translation of cell therapy into clinical practice.

Ferroptosis contribute to temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) lesion development is still poorly understood. In this study, we used different TMJOA animal models to detect whether ferroptosis is related to onset of TMJOA which modelling by monosodium iodoacetate (MIA), IL-1β, occlusion disorder (OD) and unilateral anterior crossbite (UAC). Immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis were used to detect ferroptosis proteins and cartilage degradation related protein expression. Our results revealed that lower level of ferroptosis-related proteins GPX4 in cartilage layer, but the level of ACSL4 and P53 increase in that of condyle. Injection of ferroptosis inhibitor liproxstatin-1 (Lip-1) effectively decrease ACSL4, P53 and TRF expression. In vitro, IL-1β induced the reduction of cartilage extracellular matrix expression in mandibular condylar chondrocytes (MCCs). Lip-1 maintain the morphology and function of mitochondria, and inhibited the aggravation of lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production which induced by IL-1β. These results suggested that chondrocytes ferroptosis play an important role in the development and progression of TMJOA. Inhibition of condylar chondrocyte ferroptosis could be a promising therapeutic strategy for TMJOA.