Voutetakis Antonis, Wang Jianghua, Baum Bruce J
Gene Therapy and Therapeutics Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1190, USA.
J Cell Physiol. 2004 Apr;199(1):1-7. doi: 10.1002/jcp.10429.
Mammalian salivary glands are commonly used models of exocrine secretion. However, there is substantial experimental evidence showing the physiological existence of endocrine secretory pathways in these tissues. The use of gene transfer technology in vivo has allowed the unambiguous demonstration of these endocrine pathways. We and others have exploited such findings and evaluated salivary glands as possible target tissues for systemic applications of gene therapeutics. Salivary glands present numerous advantages for this purpose, including being well encapsulated, which limits extra-glandular vector dissemination, and having the luminal membranes of almost all parenchymal cells accessible via intraoral delivery of vectors through the main excretory ducts. Existing studies suggest that clinical benefits will result from salivary gland targeted systemic gene therapeutics.
哺乳动物的唾液腺是外分泌分泌的常用模型。然而，有大量实验证据表明这些组织中存在内分泌分泌途径。体内基因转移技术的应用使得这些内分泌途径得到了明确的证实。我们和其他人利用了这些发现，并评估了唾液腺作为基因治疗全身应用的可能靶组织。唾液腺为此目的具有许多优点，包括被良好包裹，这限制了腺体外载体的扩散，并且几乎所有实质细胞的腔膜可通过载体经主要排泄导管经口递送而接触到。现有研究表明，唾液腺靶向全身基因治疗将带来临床益处。
