Understanding the role of sympathetic innervation during mouse salivary gland development

• Grant number: 17/11207-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: July 24, 2017
• End date: July 15, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Vanessa Lourenço
• Grantee: Tathyane Harumi Nakajima Teshima
• Supervisor: Abigail Saffron Tucker
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: King's College London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/12222-6 - Investigating the mechanisms of luminal expansion in human salivary gland ducts: functional study and morphogenetic validation of cell polarization, role of growth factors and intraluminal components, BP.PD

Abstract

To date it is well known that the presence of autonomic nerves is required for proper development of salivary glands. In particular, it has been extensively reported that the parasympathetic nerves have an essential role during mouse gland development, maintaining the epithelial progenitor cells in an undifferentiated state. The role of the sympathetic nerves in turn has been correlated to the secretory function of adult glands, however a role has never been demonstrated in developing glands. On a recent short collaboration at Prof Tucker's laboratory supported by FAPESP, we were able to collect preliminary data showing the presence of sympathetic nerves during early stages of development, far earlier than previously reported, within the parasympathetic ganglion of the salivary glands. These TH-positive sympathetic nerves extended and followed the parasympathetic nerves from the canalicular stage, reaching the acinar secretory structures. Importantly I was able to show that specific inhibition of sympathetic innervation in developing glands resulted in a striking defect in branching morphogenesis, preventing normal gland formation. These promising initial results compliment the primary aim of the post-doctoral project in Brazil, supporting the main objective of this proposal. The key target of this project is therefore to evaluate the role of sympathetic nerves in development of salivary glands, moving towards in vitro analysis utilizing a transgenic mouse line that has not been investigated yet in this field, and trying to identify the mechanisms that underlie this regulation.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TESHIMA, T. H. N.; TUCKER, A. S.; LOURENCO, V, S.. Dual Sympathetic Input into Developing Salivary Glands. JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH, v. 98, n. 10, JULY 2019. (16/12222-6, 17/11207-6)