Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Niigata, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan.
Oral Dis. 2012 Jul;18(5):506-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2012.01904.x. Epub 2012 Feb 6.
This investigation was a basal study that used a mouse model of xerostomia to identify protein biomarkers of xerostomia in saliva. We identified genes expressed differently in parotid glands from non-obese diabetic mice with diabetes and those from control mice; subsequently, we investigated expression of the proteins encoded by these genes in parotid glands and saliva.
DNA microarray and real-time PCR analyses were performed to detect differences between NOD/ShiJcl and C57BL/6JJcl (control) female mice in gene expression from parotid glands or parotid acinar cells. Subsequently, protein expression was assessed using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Similarly, enzyme activity in saliva was assessed using zymography.
Based on gene expression analyses, Chia expression was higher in diabetic mice than non-diabetic mice and control mice; similarly, expression of chitinase, the protein encoded by Chia, was higher in diabetic mice. Saliva from NOD/ShiJcl mice had more chitinase than saliva from control mice.
Chitinase was highly expressed in parotid acinar cells from diabetic mice compared with non-diabetic and control mice. Increased chitinase expression and enzyme activity may characterize the autoimmune diabetes in mice; however, further investigation is required to assess its use as a biomarker of xerostomia in humans.
本研究通过建立口干症小鼠模型，旨在寻找唾液中口干症相关的蛋白生物标志物。我们发现非肥胖型糖尿病（NOD）小鼠与对照小鼠（C57BL/6JJcl）的腮腺组织中存在差异表达的基因，进一步对这些基因编码的蛋白在腮腺和唾液中的表达进行了检测。
通过 DNA 微阵列和实时 PCR 分析检测 NOD/ShiJcl 和 C57BL/6JJcl（对照）雌性小鼠腮腺组织和腮腺腺泡细胞中基因表达的差异。然后采用免疫印迹和免疫组化法检测蛋白的表达，同样通过酶谱法检测唾液中的酶活性。
根据基因表达分析，Chia 在糖尿病小鼠中的表达高于非糖尿病和对照小鼠；同样，Chia 编码的壳聚糖酶的表达在糖尿病小鼠中也更高。NOD/ShiJcl 小鼠的唾液中的壳聚糖酶多于对照小鼠。
与非糖尿病和对照小鼠相比，糖尿病小鼠腮腺腺泡细胞中壳聚糖酶表达升高。壳聚糖酶表达和酶活性的增加可能是小鼠自身免疫性糖尿病的特征，但需要进一步研究以评估其作为人类口干症生物标志物的用途。
