The ability of transplanted bone marrow-derived cells to differentiate into parenchymal cells of salivary glands

Salivary glands are important exocrine glands for oral health and initial digestion. Salivary gland dysfunction resulting from irreversible glandular damage usually leads to poor life quality in patients. Recent investigations showed that bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) could be grafted into non-hematopoietic cells in multiple tissues. In this study, BMDCs from green fluorescent protein (GFP) mice were transplanted into irradiated C57BL/6 mice to assess the ability of BMDCs to differentiate into parenchymal cells of salivary glands by immunohistochemistry and double fluorescent staining. The data revealed that a population of GFP positive cells showed the characteristics of acinar cells, ductal cells and myoepithelial cells in parotid and submandibular glands, and that some of BMDCs presented amylase expression. These results showed that BMDCs have the ability to differentiate into parenchymal cells of salivary glands with certain glandular cell functions. Such plasticity of BMDCs can be the first step for salivary gland regeneration by stem cells and tissue engineering therapy.