Abstract
Oral and craniofacial tissues are uniquely adapted for continuous and intricate functioning, including breathing, feeding, and communication. To achieve these vital processes, this complex is supported by incredible tissue diversity, variously composed of epithelia, vessels, cartilage, bone, teeth, ligaments, and muscles, as well as mesenchymal, adipose, and peripheral nervous tissue. Recent single cell and spatial multiomics assays—specifically, genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics—have annotated known and new cell types and cell states in human tissues and animal models, but these concepts remain limitedly explored in the human postnatal oral and craniofacial complex. Here, we highlight the collaborative and coordinated efforts of the newly established Oral and Craniofacial Bionetwork as part of the Human Cell Atlas, which aims to leverage single cell and spatial multiomics approaches to first understand the cellular and molecular makeup of human oral and craniofacial tissues in health and to then address common and rare diseases. These powerful assays have already revealed the cell types that support oral tissues, and they will unravel cell types and molecular networks utilized across development, maintenance, and aging as well as those affected in diseases of the craniofacial complex. This level of integration and cell annotation with partner laboratories across the globe will be critical for understanding how multiple variables, such as age, sex, race, and ancestry, influence these oral and craniofacial niches. Here, we 1) highlight these recent collaborative efforts to employ new single cell and spatial approaches to resolve our collective biology at a higher resolution in health and disease, 2) discuss the vision behind the Oral and Craniofacial Bionetwork, 3) outline the stakeholders who contribute to and will benefit from this network, and 4) outline directions for creating the first Human Oral and Craniofacial Cell Atlas.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1274-1288 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Dental Research |
| Volume | 101 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© International & American Associations for Dental Research 2022.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: For this work, A.J. Caetano was funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, or the Department of Health. Work in the laboratories of N. Moutsopoulos and B.M. Warner is supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (National Institutes of Health). K.K. is funded by the German Cancer Aid (via MSNZ Würzburg), the European Union (ERC Starting Grant agreement 101042738/OralNiche), the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research at the Medical Faculty of the University of Würzburg (IZKF project B-435), the Single Cell Center Würzburg, and the Foundation Tumour Research Head-Neck. I. Sequeira was funded by a Barts Charity Lectureship (MGU045), the Royal Society (RGS\R2\202291), and the CZI Pediatric Networks for Human Cell Atlas. This study is supported by the Medical College of Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital Trust, an independent registered charity that promotes and advances medical and dental education and research at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (I. Sequeira and J. Macken) and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (2020.08715.BD, I. Sequeira and D. Pereira). K.M. Byrd was funded by Volpe Researcher Scholar start-up funds (ADASRI) and the CZI Pediatric Networks for Human Cell Atlas. We thank Nancy R. Gough, BioSerendipity, LLC, for assistance with Figures 2 and 4. We also acknowledge the Human Cell Atlas Oral and Craniofacial Bionetwork for comments on the manuscript. We are especially thankful for the generous support from the Human Cell Atlas, especially from Sarah Teichmann and her team. This publication is part of the Human Cell Atlas: http://www.humancellatlas.org/publications. Due to space limitations, we apologize for being unable to cite all the relevant primary literature that has contributed to this roadmap The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: For this work, A.J. Caetano was funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, or the Department of Health. Work in the laboratories of N. Moutsopoulos and B.M. Warner is supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (National Institutes of Health). K.K. is funded by the German Cancer Aid (via MSNZ Würzburg), the European Union (ERC Starting Grant agreement 101042738/OralNiche), the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research at the Medical Faculty of the University of Würzburg (IZKF project B-435), the Single Cell Center Würzburg, and the Foundation Tumour Research Head-Neck. I. Sequeira was funded by a Barts Charity Lectureship (MGU045), the Royal Society (RGS\R2\202291), and the CZI Pediatric Networks for Human Cell Atlas. This study is supported by the Medical College of Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital Trust, an independent registered charity that promotes and advances medical and dental education and research at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (I. Sequeira and J. Macken) and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (2020.08715.BD, I. Sequeira and D. Pereira). K.M. Byrd was funded by Volpe Researcher Scholar start-up funds (ADASRI) and the CZI Pediatric Networks for Human Cell Atlas.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| ADASRI | |
| CZI Pediatric Networks for Human Cell Atlas | |
| Foundation Tumour Research Head-Neck | MGU045 |
| London School of Medicine and Dentistry | |
| Medical College of Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital Trust | |
| Single Cell Center Würzburg | |
| National Institutes of Health | |
| National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | |
| King’s College London | |
| NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust/Institute of Cancer Research | |
| National Institute for Health and Care Research | |
| Royal Society | RGS\R2\202291 |
| European Commission | |
| European Research Council | |
| Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | 2020.08715 |
| Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Deutsche Krebshilfe | |
| Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg | |
| Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Klinische Forschung, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg | B-435 |
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- General Dentistry
