An In Vitro Culture System for Long-Term Expansion of Epithelial and Mesenchymal Salivary Gland Cells: Role of TGF-1 in Salivary Gland Epithelial and Mesenchymal Differentiation
Figure 1
Histology of Col1a1-GFP derived submandibular salivary gland demonstrates salivary gland epithelial markers. The sections showed that a majority of cells, namely, parenchymal cells in salivary gland tissues were GFP-negative cells, representing salivary gland epithelium (acini and ducts). GFP-positive cells (in green) were anatomically localized in the position of salivary gland mesenchyme and identified as supporting or stromal cells surrounding salivary gland acini or ducts. Salivary gland ducts (D) were anatomically identified as structures with lumens (indicated by arrowheads). (a)–(j), CD44, E-cadherin (E-cad), amylase-1 (AMY-1), aquaporin-5 (AQP-5), and lysosomal-associated membrane protein-1 (LAMP-1) (in red) stained specifically salivary gland epithelium but not mesenchyme. Salivary gland acini (AC) but not salivary gland ductal epithelium (DE) was positive for CD44 (a and b) whereas both salivary gland acini and ductal epithelium were positive for E-cad (c and d). AMY-1 staining was positive in salivary gland acini and particularly strongly positive in ductal epithelium (e and f). Apical and lateral membranes of salivary gland acini were strongly positive for AQP-5 (g and h). LAMP-1 staining was strongly positive in salivary gland ductal epithelium (i and j). Scale bars = 100 μm.
