Salivary glands are exocrine glands that secrete saliva, which plays an important role in the maintenance of oral health. Few reports exist on the contralateral salivary gland that is not directly affected when one salivary gland is affected by sialolithiasis, radiation therapy, or a tumor. In the present study, we investigated the changes in the contralateral submandibular gland in mice following the excision of unilateral salivary gland. Outcomes of this study showed that the unilateral submandibular and sublingual glands resection resulted in a significant increase in the weight of the remaining submandibular gland after 21 days following the unilateral resection of salivary gland. The appearance rate of the proliferating cells by cell type constituting the submandibular gland parenchyma significantly increased in the acinar cells of the contralateral submandibular gland, 7 days after unilateral resection of the submandibular and sublingual glands. This suggests that the unilateral submandibular and sublingual glands resection resulted in proliferation of the acinar cells in the contralateral submandibular gland. The area of the acini comprising the submandibular gland significantly increased in the remaining submandibular gland after 21 days following unilateral salivary gland resection, suggesting that the acinar cells proliferated as early as 7 days after salivary gland resection, resulting in increased acinar area and submandibular gland weight at 21 days post resection. The increased weight of the remaining contralateral submandibular gland may be attributable to the resection, owing to the proliferation and increased area of the acinar cells to compensate for the loss of salivary gland function.
The development of the submandibular gland is mediated by epithelial-mesenchymal interactions; the acini and ducts are immature at birth and proliferate and differentiate after birth. Limited information is available on epigenetic modifications via histone modifications during the early phase of salivary gland development. Therefore, the present study examined changes in the expression and localization of Jmjd3 to clarify the role of the H3K27me3 epigenetic modification in the postnatal development of the submandibular gland in mice. Morphological, immunohistochemical, and molecular biological assays were performed using submandibular glands harvested from mice at birth on day 0 to 10 weeks of age. On day 0, submandibular glands were characterized by the presence of terminal tubules and ducts within abundant connective tissue. The proliferation and differentiation of ductal cells in submandibular glands peaked by day 7, and the structure of submandibular glands matured to mimic that of adult mice by day 28. Jmjd3-positive cells were mostly found in connective tissue on day 0. After day 7, most of these cells were detected in the ducts. As submandibular glands continued to develop, the number of Jmjd3-positve cells significantly decreased irrespective of the location. The mRNA expression level of Jmjd3 continued to increase until day 7 and gradually decreased after day 14. Collectively, the present results demonstrated the development and differentiation of mouse submandibular gland tissue concurrent with significant changes in the expression and localization of Jmjd3 during the early postnatal period. Therefore, epigenetic modifications via histone H3K27me3 demethylation occur as the submandibular gland develops.
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