Insights into the salivary glands

New understanding of novel pathways in Sjögren's disease

2024-06-15

(Press-News.org) TLS are accumulations of lymphoid cells that share similar cellular compartments, organization, and function as secondary lymphoid organs. Importantly, the presence of these structures in inflamed salivary glands associated with active disease, increased autoantibody production, and malignancy risk.

“To treat patients effectively, comprehensive understanding of the salivary gland microenvironment is needed”, said Saba Nayar, “but current profiling efforts often struggle to capture high-plex 'omics data while preserving the spatial architecture of the tissue.”

To address this, the team mapped both identified cell types and novel populations, clustering tissue architectural features to define eight so-called neighbourhoods. Some of these were enriched with epithelial cells, but others were associated with different immune cell populations. One neighbourhood was enriched with IgA plasma cells, and was associated with myeloid populations – in contrast to other IgG plasma cells niches. This novel spatial mapping work – presented in a basic abstract session on new pathways in Sjögren's disease – has the potential to reveal novel cellular landscape and their interactions, aiding therapeutic and discoveries for the management of Sjögren’s disease.

A second abstract focused on SGEC, which are already known to play a pathogenic role in Sjögren's disease. Research is underway to develop and characterise differentiated organoids of SGEC derived from minor salivary gland biopsies of both patients and sicca controls. Organoids were shown to form and differentiate in both groups, with comparable self-renewal capacity of organoids for long-term culture. The organoids expressed epithelial ductal and acinar markers and recapitulated the epithelial diversity. Exposure to pilocarpine induced increased calcium levels – suggesting a capacity to secrete saliva in response to a cholinergic stimulation – but this effect was reduced in organoids derived from Sjögren’s patients compared to controls.

In conclusion, Loïc Meudec said “additional characterisation investigations are ongoing to develop immuno-organoids that can be used to study the crosstalk between epithelial cells and immune cells and to test the effect of drugs on this crosstalk.”

Drug development for Sjögren’s disease has predominantly focused on suppressing aberrant immune cells, but this approach has not shown efficacy in clinical studies, and there are no approved biologic therapies that directly target the underlying pathogenesis. Comprehensive understanding of the salivary gland may help change this picture in the future.

Source

Nayar S, et al. Spatial insights into the salivary glands of patients with Sjogren’s Disease

Fibroblasts, Cytokines and Chemokines, '-omics. Presented at EULAR 2024; OP0199.

Ann Rheum Dis 2024; DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2024-eular.5434.

Meudec L, et al. Development of salivary gland organoids to study Sjögren’s disease. Presented at EULAR 2024; OP0199.

Ann Rheum Dis 2024; DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2024-eular.1959.

About EULAR

EULAR is the European umbrella organisation representing scientific societies, health professional associations and organisations for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). EULAR aims to reduce the impact of RMDs on individuals and society, as well as improve RMD treatments, prevention, and rehabilitation. To this end, EULAR fosters excellence in rheumatology education and research, promotes the translation of research advances into daily care, and advocates for the recognition of the needs of those living with RMDs by EU institutions.

Contact

EULAR Communications, communications@eular.org

Notes to Editors

EULAR Recommendations

EULAR School of Rheumatology

EULAR Press Releases

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Holistic approach to care

2024-06-15

The 16-week Plants for Joints trial investigated the effects of a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention in people with RA, as compared to usual care. The intervention was based on a whole-food, plant-based diet – alongside physical activity and stress management. Previous reports showed this intervention significantly reduced the 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) compared to usual care alone.2,3 To expand on this, the researchers wanted to determine the long-term effectiveness of the intervention, specifically with ...

Ultra-high sensitivity for isoamyl alcohol based on g-C3N4 nanosheets incorporated Ag nanoparticles loaded Er0.05La0.95FeO3 heterojunctions with enhanced moisture resistance

2024-06-15

The volatile of isoamyl alcohol released from the stored wheat increased with the storage extending, making it one of the potential biomarkers for the early-stage of wheat mildew. Currently, there is a scarcity of chemiresistors for isoamyl alcohol detection, which suffer from low sensitivity. The team of material scientists led by Professor Chao Zhang reported that LaFeO3-based sensing materials demonstrated remarkable sensitivity for isoamyl alcohol (DOI: 10.1039/D3TA05718F, 10.1007/s11666-024-01740-4). However, it’s essential to note that there is still potential for lowering the optimal operating temperature and enhancing moisture ...

Reduction of esters by a novel photocatalyst

2024-06-15

The sweet smell of strawberries and other fruits is thanks to a chemical compound called ester, which is also found in many fats and polyesters. The ubiquitous compound can be broken down to produce desirable alcohols and other chemicals for use across industries including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, but the process can be costly, both financially and in terms of the environment. Now, a team of researchers with the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) in Japan has developed a novel approach using light as an energy ...

Is there a link between increased headaches and hotter temperatures for individuals with migraines?

2024-06-15

As temperatures rise, so do chances for migraine attacks, according to a new study from a team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Errex Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA. Inc. “Weather change is one of the most common trigger factors for migraine,” says Vincent Martin, MD, director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at UC's Gardner Neuroscience Institute and UC Health physician. He is the study’s lead author and president of the National Headache Foundation. These findings from the study, which looked at use of Fremanezumab and whether it could prevent headaches ...

When bacteria are buckling

2024-06-15

Cyanobacteria are one of the oldest and most important life forms in the world – for example as they took an essential part in producing the oxygen in our atmosphere. Some types form long filaments composed of a few to more than 1,000 individual cells. In this form, the filamentous bacteria can move around. The principles of this locomotion have now been investigated by a research team led by Stefan Karpitschka, group leader at the MPI-DS and professor at the University of Konstanz, in collaboration with the University of Bayreuth and the University of Göttingen. "We measured the force during locomotion on individual ...

In brief: Multi-omics analysis identifies molecularly defined Alzheimer’s disease subtypes

2024-06-15

Omics analysis is the process of analyzing large data sets to extract meaningful information about biological molecules—genes, DNA, RNA, proteins, metabolites or more—with the goal of illuminating typical molecular pathways and deciphering where things go awry in disease. In a study led by Bruno A. Benitez, MD, a human geneticist and director of the Neurobiorepository in the department of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), investigators used machine learning approaches to integrate high-throughput transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and lipidomic profiles to provide novel ...

New study offers a better way to make AI fairer for everyone

2024-06-15

In a new paper, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Stevens Institute of Technology show a new way of thinking about the fair impacts of AI decisions. They draw on a well-established tradition known as social welfare optimization, which aims to make decisions fairer by focusing on the overall benefits and harms to individuals. This method can be used to evaluate the industry standard assessment tools for AI fairness, which look at approval rates across protected groups. "In assessing fairness, the AI community tries to ensure equitable treatment for groups that differ in economic level, ...

NRL researchers receive Navy’s Top Scientists and Engineers Award

2024-06-14

WASHINGTON – U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientists and engineers received the prestigious Department of Navy Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers of the Year Award, June 12, during an awards ceremony hosted at the Pentagon. “The Top Scientists and Engineers of the Year award program recognizes and acknowledges the excellence of our highest performing scientists and engineers in support of the Department of the Navy," said Frederick J. Stefany, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, ...

CDC-funded program improved cardiovascular health of Nebraska women

2024-06-14

Waltham — June 14, 2024 — When implemented in Nebraska, the WISEWOMAN program supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which offers services for women ages 40–64 who are low-income and uninsured/underinsured, improved hypertension, blood pressure self-management, diet, physical activity, and body weight. Jianping Daniels, PhD and colleagues, of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, detail these findings in a supplement to the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. In an introduction ...

Novel gene-editing therapy continues to show positive results in sickle cell patients

2024-06-14

Researchers have presented the latest findings from a clinical trial aimed at discovering a cure for sickle cell disease, a painful genetic blood disorder with limited treatment options. Conducted as part of the multicenter RUBY Trial, researchers shared data on the safety and effectiveness of renizgamglogene autogedtemcel (reni-cel, formerly known as EDIT-301), an experimental one-time gene editing cell therapy, among its 18 patients at the European Hematology Association 2024 Hybrid Congress (EHA) in Madrid, Spain. This innovative treatment modifies a patient’s own blood-forming stem cells ...

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

[Press-News.org] Insights into the salivary glands
New understanding of novel pathways in Sjögren's disease

Insights into the salivary glands

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: