Single‐cell RNA sequencing in oral science: Current awareness and perspectives

Abstract

The emergence of single-cell RNA sequencing enables simultaneous sequencing of thousands of cells, making the analysis of cell population heterogeneity more efficient. In recent years, single-cell RNA sequencing has been used in the investigation of heterogeneous cell populations, cellular developmental trajectories, stochastic gene transcriptional kinetics, and gene regulatory networks, providing strong support in life science research. However, the application of single-cell RNA sequencing in the field of oral science has not been reviewed comprehensively yet. Therefore, this paper reviews the development and application of single-cell RNA sequencing in oral science, including fields of tissue development, teeth and jaws diseases, maxillofacial tumors, infections, etc., providing reference and prospects for using single-cell RNA sequencing in studying the oral diseases, tissue development, and regeneration. | INTRODUCTIONOn the analysis of mixed samples of thousands of cells, bulk RNA sequencing is prone to uncover gene expression by sequencing on average in the absence of the cellular transcriptome heterogeneity of individual cells. Traditional RNA sequencing can reveal information of dominant cell subpopulations, but the transcriptome characteristics of rare cell subpopulations cannot be shown because the results are † Authors contributing equally to this article.

Unraveling the hidden complexity: Exploring dental tissues through single-cell transcriptional profiling

“…The conventional model of stem cell-driven homeostasis in mouse incisors posits that a few quiescent, slow-cycling stem cells are located in the proximal outer enamel epithelium (OEE) or stellate reticulum (SR); these give rise to transit-amplifying IEE cells, which then differentiate into ameloblasts as they move distally to form enamel [ 8 , 9 ] ( Fig. 1 ).…”

Evolution tumour models paving the way for understanding oral carcinogenesis

“…14 Single-cell sequencing has contributed to remarkable advances in oral science, characterising the cellular heterogeneity of oral mucosa, mapping subtypes of OSCC cells plus identifying populations of nonmalignant cells associated with OSSC and uncovering their pathogenic role in the tumour micro-environment. 15 Despite the promising value for understanding the earliest steps of oral carcinogenesis, there is a lack of single-cell studies using OPMD samples. The models discussed in the following paragraphs are mainly based on clonal analysis of advanced tumours and are not the unique schemes proposed for neoplastic evolution.…”

Spatiotemporal cell landscape of human embryonic tooth development

“…The rapid development of single cell techniques provides new opportunity for this task 5 . Recent single-cell studies on mouse dental tissues have elucidated the cell heterogeneity from early state Cranial neural crest cells 6 to later incisor tissues 7 , and delineated the differentiation and migration trajectory of epithelial and mesenchymal cells.…”