BACKGROUND: Nowadays, stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1)/CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) signal axis has been used extensively because of its biological effects and particularly a great progress has been achieved in the mechanism of SDF-1/CXCR4 signal axis as well as in its use for tissue regeneration. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the factors affecting the regulation of SDF-1 and CXCR4 and to review the research progress in the biological characteristics of SDF-1/CXCR4 signal axis. METHODS: The first author searched the PubMed, CNKI, WanFang and VIP databases for relevant articles published from January 1990 to August 2018. The keywords were "tissue engineering; cell homing; chemokine; regeneration; pulp regeneration; HIF-1; SDF-1; CXCL12; CXCR4; NOX-A12" in both Chinese and English. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 plays a key role in the regulation of SDF-1, and there are multiple factors which can affect the expression of CXCR4. SDF-1/CXCR4 signal axis formed by the combination of SDF-1 and CXCR4 plays an important biological role in various physiological and pathological processes. Blocking SDF-1 is used to inhibit the pathogenic effect of the SDF-1/CXCR4 signal axis for therapeutic purposes, while increasing SDF-1 can strengthen the SDF-1/CXCR4 signal axis and enhance the ability of chemotactic endogenous cell homing for tissue regeneration. To further illustrate the mechanism of the SDF-1/CXCR4 signal axis, we upregulate or downregulate the expression of SDF-1 or CXCR4 by exogenous means to influence the biological function of the signal axis, and thus provide theoretical basis for optimizing clinical treatment strategies, and developing the biological function of the signal axis for human health benefits.