Research progress on neural differentiation protocols and mechanisms of dental pulp stem cells

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are a type of adult stem cell with abundant sources, easy accessibility, multipotent differentiation potential, and low immunogenicity. In recent years, they have attracted considerable attention due to their promising applications in repairing neural tissue injuries. Under specific induction conditions, DPSCs can directly differentiate into neuron-like cells and exert neuroprotective, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects through the paracrine secretion of neurotrophic and immunomodulatory factors. DPSCs can also be combined with biomaterial scaffolds such as hydrogels, chitosan, and polylactic acid, thereby enhancing neural differentiation efficiency and regenerative outcomes. However, their clinical application in neural repair still faces challenges, including poor microenvironmental adaptability, low differentiation efficiency and controllability, immune rejection, difficulties in large-scale production and quality control, and a lack of standardized operational protocols. Future research should focus on optimizing the adaptability of DPSCs to the injury microenvironment, improving their neural differentiation efficiency, strengthening immune regulation to ensure the safety of allogeneic transplantation, establishing GMP-compliant cell preparation and quality control systems, and developing standardized clinical procedures combined with multicenter trials to validate efficacy, thereby promoting the efficient, safe, and reproducible clinical translation of DPSCs in neural regeneration. This review summarizes the research progress on the neural differentiation of DPSCs, with an emphasis on strategies and molecular mechanisms for promoting neural regeneration, the challenges in clinical translation, and future development directions, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for research on the neural differentiation of DPSCs.