Generation of Bioartificial Salivary Gland Using Whole-Organ Decellularized Bioscaffold

Abstract

Salivary gland hypofunction resulting in xerostomia occurs as a result of various pathological conditions such as radiotherapy for head and neck cancers, Sjögren's syndrome or salivary gland tumor resection. It can induce a large number of problems, including dental decay, periodontitis, dysgeusia, difficulty with mastication and swallowing and a reduced quality of life. Current therapies for xerostomia mostly focus on saliva substitutes, oral lubricants and medications which stimulate salivation from residual glands. However, these treatments are not sufficient to restore gland secretory function. Tissue engineering-based organ regeneration has emerged as a potential therapeutic alternative for end- organ failure. Here, we decellularized rat submandibular glands (SMG) by detergent immersion. Histological, immunofluorescent, Western blot, DNA and collagen quantitative analyses demonstrated that our protocol effectively removed cellular components and that extracellular matrix proteins and native structures were well preserved. We then reseeded the decellularized SMG as scaffolds with rat primary SMG cells in a rotary cell culture system. Histological staining and electron microscopy analyses illustrated that the decellularized SMG could support cellular adhesion. Furthermore, with immunofluorescent staining, we proved that bioartificially generated SMG showed some differentiation markers in vitro. Taken together, our findings might provide a potential scaffold for tissue-engineered regeneration of the salivary glands.

Decellularized Swine Dental Pulp as a Bioscaffold for Pulp Regeneration

“…Swine dental pulp is larger than human pulp and thus unsuitable for this decellularization process. We generated a swine acellular pulp scaffold after root canal extraction, by using our previous decellularization method used on rat submandibular glands [ 31 ]. The results showed the gross morphology of swine dental pulp was well-preserved after decellularization treatment.…”

Comparing human and mouse salivary glands: A practice guide for salivary researchers

“…These matrices may consist of decellularized tissue, Matrigel, polymers and hydrogels (Maria et al, 2011, McCall et al, 2013), all of which can be further optimized with peptides and growth factors (McCall et al, 2013, Nam et al, 2016). Regarding decellularization, rat SMG have been successfully decellularized for use as a scaffold to reseed primary cells (Gao et al, 2014); however, this technique has not yet been performed with human cells. Regarding, Matrigel, they can support the growth of many cell types due to their rich composition (Kleinman & Martin, 2005); however, they are derived from Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm tumors, which have been observed to increase tumorigenesis in vivo (Noël et al, 1993).…”

Biomaterials-based strategies for salivary gland tissue regeneration

“…Cells seeded into the scaffold via injection through the main gland duct and cultured under rotational conditions, adhered to the scaffold, expressed the differentiated markers, and formed gland-like tissues. 36 …”