RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Mechanical stimulation plays a necessary regulatory role in developing and repairing many organs and tissues in the human body. Except for biochemical factors, mechanical factors are considered as key regulatory factors that affect the behavior and function of dental pulp stem cells. OBJECTIVE: To review the role and effect of cellular mechanical stimulation on the biological behavior of dental pulp stem cells. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Medline and CNKI databases were searched for relevant literatures using the keywords of “human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs), mechanical strain, mechanical stretch, mechanical tension, shear stress, cell proliferation, osteogenesis differentiation” in English and Chinese, respectively. Fifty-six articles were finally eligible for review, which were closely related to the proliferation and differentiation of dental pulp stem cells under cellular mechanical stimulation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Cellular mechanical stimulation is an important biological factor affecting cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and protein expression. Dental pulp stem cells are mesenchymal stem cells derived from the dental pulp tissue, and their biological behaviors are also affected by cellular mechanical stimulation. Cellular mechanical stimulation is involved in the proliferation, odontogenesis/osteogenesis of dental pulp stem cells. When the dentin is subjected to fluid flow forces, mechanoreceptors are activated to regulate and maintain the integrity of tooth structure. Signal pathways that mediate the biological behavior of dental pulp stem cells include MAPK, Wnt, Akt, BMP-7, and Nrf2/HO-1, which are involved in promoting and inhibiting the proliferation and odontogenesis/osteogenesis of dental pulp stem cells to varying degrees.