Work

Role of quiescent cells in the homeostatic maintenance of the adult submandibular salivary gland

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Stem/progenitor cells are required for long-term maintenance of salivary gland (SG) function and serve as untapped reservoirs to create functional cells. Despite recent advancements in the identification of multiple stem/progenitor pools, in the SG it remains incomplete. Furthermore, the contribution to adult SG homeostasis of stem/progenitor cells originating from embryonic development remains unclear. Here, we employ a H2B-GFP embryonic and adult pulse-and-chase system to characterize potential salivary gland stem cells (SGSCs) based on quiescence at different stages. Phenotypical profiling of quiescent cells revealed that label-retaining cells (LRCs) of embryonic or adult origin co-localized with CK8+ ductal or vimentin+ mesenchymal, but not with CK5+ or CK14+ progenitor cells. In accordance, these LRCs failed to self-renew in vitro while non-label retaining cells displayed differentiation and long-term expansion potential as organoids. Collectively, our data suggest that an active cycling population of cells is responsible for submandibular salivary gland homeostasis with organoid forming potential.

Source: iScience

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105047