Abstract
Currently, there is no effective treatment available to patients with irreversible loss of functional salivary acini caused by Sjogren's syndrome or after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. A tissue-engineered artificial salivary gland would help these patients. The graft cells for this device must establish tight junctions in addition to being of fluid-secretory nature. This study analyzed a graft source from human salivary glands (huSG) cultured on Matrigel. Cells were obtained from parotid and submandibular glands, expanded in vitro, and then plated on either Matrigel-coated (2 mg/mL) or uncoated culture dish. Immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy, quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and transepithelial electrical resistance were employed. On Matrigel, huSG cells adopted an acinar phenotype by forming three-dimensional acinar-like units (within 24 h of plating) as well as a monolayer of cells. On uncoated surfaces (plastic), huSG cells only formed monolayers of ductal cells. Both types of culture conditions allowed huSG cells to express tight junction proteins (claudin-1, -2, -3, -4; occludin; JAM-A; and ZO-1) and adequate transepithelial electrical resistance. Importantly, 99% of huSG cells on Matrigel expressed α-amylase and the water channel protein Aquaporin-5, as compared to <5% of huSG cells on plastic. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed an acinar phenotype with many secretory granules. Matrigel increased the secretion of α-amylase two to five folds into the media, downregulated certain salivary genes, and regulated the translation of acinar proteins. This three-dimensional in vitro serum-free cell culture method allows the organization and differentiation of huSG cells into salivary cells with an acinar phenotype.