TARGETED PROTEOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF DENTAL PULP & DENTIN UNDER PHYSIOLOGIC & PATHOLOGIC CONDITIONS

Proteomics provides a comprehensive understanding of tissue-specific protein expression and reflects the functional and dynamic biological state of dental tissues more accurately than genomic analysis alone. In endodontics, both pulpal inflammation and dentin caries are driven by complex protein-mediated processes involving inflammatory cytokines, cellular stress responses, matrix-degrading enzymes, and extracellular matrix components. Increasing evidence from in vitro, ex vivo, and clinical proteomic investigations has demonstrated distinct and reproducible differences in protein expression signatures between healthy and diseased dental pulp, as well as between sound and carious dentin.