The Reduction of JunB Inhibits the Odontogenic Differentiation Potential of the DPSCs by Targeting PIN1 in Pulpitis

Abstract Pulpitis is an inflammatory condition that can lead to the loss of tooth vitality. The odontogenic differentiation potential of the dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) is significantly decreased in the pulpitis microenvironment. The aim of this study was to determine the mechanism of the impaired odontogenic differentiation of the DPSCs in an inflammatory microenvironment. Overexpression and inhibition of the JunB were performed to evaluate its effect on the odontogenic differentiation potential of the DPSCs. The results showed that the JunB was positively correlated with the odontogenic differentiation ability of the DPSCs. The co-immunoprecipitation assay coupled with the mass spectrometry showed that peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans Isomerase NIMA-Interacting 1 (PIN1) was a downstream target of the JunB. Moreover, the expression of PIN1 was negatively correlated with the odontogenic differentiation potential of the DPSCs. Taken together, the decreased expression level of the JunB in an inflammatory state can impair the odontogenic differentiation ability of the DPSCs by upregulating the expression of the PIN1, a negative regulator of the odontogenic differentiation of the DPSCs.