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Research regarding the process of salivary gland development and elucidation of related mechanisms are considered essential for development of effective treatments for conditions associated with salivary disease. Various reports regarding the effects of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 on hard tissue cells have been presented, though few have examined those related to salivary gland formation. Using an organ culture system, the present study was conducted to investigate the function of BMP-2 in salivary gland formation. Salivary glands obtained from embryonic day 13.5 mice and treated with BMP-2 showed suppression of primordial cell differentiation and also gland formation in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, gland formation inhibition was suppressed by concurrent treatment with dorsomorphin, an inhibitor of the Smad pathway. Expression levels of AQP5, a marker gene for acinar cells, and Prol1, an opiorphin expressed in the lacrimal gland, were decreased in salivary glands treated with BMP-2. The present findings indicate that suppression of salivary gland formation, especially acinar differentiation, is induced by BMP-2, a phenomenon considered to be related to the Smad pathway. • BMP-2 suppresses salivary gland development. • Suppression of salivary gland development by BMP-2 is attenuated by dorsomorphin. • The expression levels of various genes such as AQP5 and Prol1 were decreased in salivary glands treated with BMP-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in mammals are well-known to play important roles in innate immunity, newer roles for the TLRs have suggested that cells with aberrant TLR expression may have a survival advantage over normal cells. Lymphocytes are one of a small number of cell types that express many of the TLRs, suggesting that abnormal TLR levels/signaling may potentially influence the progression of malignant lymphomas. Thus, frozen samples of 51 lymph nodes from patients with follicular lymphoma (FL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) were analyzed for the expression of TLR1 to 9 using quantitative real-time PCR, and compared to those in reactive lymphadenopathy (RL) samples. TLR2 was over-expressed in both DLBCL and PTCL but not in FL when compared to RL. TLR1 and TLR4 expression was up-regulated in PTCL, while TLR8 was highly expressed in DLBCL. Although TLR5 showed lower expression in FL, expression of TLR3, TLR6, TLR7 and TLR9 did not vary significantly between different lymphoma subtypes. Double immunostaining revealed an increase in the number of TLR2 and/or TLR8 expressing lymphoma cells in DLBCL. In PTCL, TLR2 and TLR4 expression was localized to neoplastic T cells. TLR expression is highly variable among lymphoma subtypes. However, despite this some significant differences exist that may prove useful in the development of novel therapeutic strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Exocrine glands share a common morphology consisting of ductal, acinar, and basal/myoepithelial cells, but their functions and mechanisms of homeostasis differ among tissues. Salivary glands are an example of exocrine glands, and they have been reported to contain multipotent stem cells that differentiate into other tissues. In this study, we purified the salivary gland stem/progenitor cells of adult mouse salivary glands using the cell surface marker CD133 by flow cytometry. CD133+ cells possessed stem cell capacity, and the transplantation of CD133+ cells into the submandibular gland reconstituted gland structures, including functional acinar. CD133+ cells were sparsely distributed in the intercalated and exocrine ducts and expressed Sox9 at higher levels than CD133– cells. Moreover, we demonstrated that Sox9 was required for the stem cell properties CD133+ cells, including colony and sphere formation. Thus, the Sox9-related signaling may control the regeneration salivary glands. • Lin–/CD133+ cells distribute in the intercalated and striated ducts. • Lin–/CD133+ cells have stem/progenitor features. • Sox9 contributes to stem/progenitor activity in salivary gland cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]