Study of Thy-1 positive cells in salivary glands

• Grant number: 13/05862-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2013
• End date: January 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Vanessa Lourenço
• Grantee: Renata Carolina Fraga Ianez
• Supervisor: Isabelle Miletich
• Host Institution: A C Camargo Cancer Center. Fundação Antonio Prudente (FAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: King's College London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/17327-7 - C-KIT signaling cascade in pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary glands: evaluation of cascade proteins, mutations and post-transcriptional regulation of gene KIT, BP.DR

Abstract

Salivary glands of rodents exhibit the same cell types as those of humans: acinar cells responsible for water and protein secretion, myoepithelial cells surrounding the acini and ducts, and ductal cells that mainly modulate the composition of the saliva. Ligation and subsequent deligation of the main excretory duct of the submandibular salivary gland (SMG) lead to acinar cell atrophy followed by complete recovery within a week of ductal obstructio. Regeneration of the SMG after ductal obstruction has been attributed to putative stem cells residing in the ductal compartmen. The aim of the present study is to further characterize putative stem/progenitor cells with regenerative potential present into the salivary gland, using a mouse model. We will use clonal marking methods to identify salivary gland stem cells and analyze their function. Two lines of transgenic mice will be used. 1) The mTmG transgenic mouse line expresses ubiquitously membrane-bound Tomato (mT), a red fluorescent protein, and membrane-targeted GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) upon Cre activation. The Cre recombinase is tamoxifen inducible and will induce random GFP (mG) expression. Clones of cells will appear green on a red background. 2) In the Brainbow transgenic mice, green, cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins are randomly mixed in Thy1+ cells after tamoxifen induction creating a palette of ninety distinctive colors. Fluorescent-labelled clones of cells will be generated in adult mice of both transgenic lines and analyzed at different time points with confocal microscopy. Once transient clones have turned over, mostly stem cell clones will be present. Ligation/deligation experiments will be carried out in transgenic mice in which cell clones have been labelled. (AU)