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Updated: Jan 9, 2026
Author Spotlight: Studying Macrophage-Epithelial Cell Interactions in Salivary Gland Regeneration After Injury
Published on: November 17, 2023
Macrophage-induced immunomodulation in oral tissue repair and regeneration: Recent advances and future perspectives
Yujie Wang1, Jing Mao1, Yifan Wang1
1Center of Stomatology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China; School of Stomatology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China; Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Development and Regeneration, Wuhan 430022, China.
Objectives:
Maintaining immune balance plays crucial roles in the development and prognosis of injured oral tissues. Serving as critical components of immune system, macrophages are essential in accelerating oral tissue repair and regeneration. This multipart review intends to present a comprehensive overview of recent advances and future perspectives of macrophage plasticity and polarization in oral tissue repair and regeneration, thereby enhancing the understanding of macrophage-induced immunotherapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms in oral diseases.
Methods:
The primary electronic databases consulted for this review included PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. The literature search strategy employed a comprehensive combination of keywords such as "macrophage polarization", "M1", "M2", "oral tissue repair", "periodontitis", "pulpitis", "osseointegration", "jawbone defects", and "immunotherapy". Both original research articles and authoritative review papers were selected. Furthermore, the reference lists of retrieved articles were manually examined to identify additional pertinent publications.
Results:
Macrophages are derived initially from hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow and embryonic yolk sac progenitor cells. They encompass several polarization phenotypes, including M1, M2a, M2b, M2c, and M2d, and exert multifaceted functions by secreting soluble factors and insoluble exosomes. Encouragingly, robust immunotherapeutic potential and distinctive regulatory mechanisms of macrophages have been revealed for a variety of oral diseases, providing a breadth of perspectives and insights into the repair and regeneration of oral tissues.
Conclusions:
Orderly and sequential polarization of macrophages has been proposed as novel immunotherapeutic strategies and promising directions for treating oral diseases. An in-depth exploration of hidden mechanisms may contribute to structural regeneration and functional reconstruction of oral tissues.
