Shh signaling, negatively regulated by BMP signaling, inhibits the osteo/dentinogenic differentiation potentials of mesenchymal stem cells from apical papilla.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from dental tissues show promise for use in tooth-related tissue regeneration, but the molecular mechanisms underlying their directed differentiation remain unclear, limiting their usefulness. Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling is a major signaling pathway that regulates cell differentiation and osteogenesis. We found that when Shh signaling was activated by human recombinant SHH-N protein or by overexpression of active mutant M2-Smoothened (SMO) in stem cells from apical papilla (SCAPs), GLI1, a key downstream transcription factor and a marker of Shh signaling, was upregulated. Subsequently, in vitro osteo/dentinogenic differentiation and in vivo osteogenesis were inhibited in SCAPs. Moreover, the expression of GLI1 and SMO were downregulated by BMP signaling while osteo/dentinogenic differentiation in SCAPs was upregulated. These results provide insights into the role of Shh signaling in the directed differentiation of MSCs derived from dental tissues and suggest possible target genes for optimizing the use of stem cells of dental origin for tissue regeneration applications.