The Salivary Transcriptome: A Window into Local and Systemic Gene Expression Patterns.

Saliva, a readily available and noninvasive biofluid, has emerged as a promising source for gene expression studies, offering a window into both local and systemic gene expression patterns. The salivary transcriptome and miRNome hold valuable information about the physiological and pathological processes occurring in the oral cavity and throughout the body.This chapter delves into the potential of saliva as a noninvasive sampling method, exploring its utility in gene expression profiling for various applications. It provides an overview of the components contributing to the salivary transcriptome and discusses the challenges associated with salivary RNA analysis. We highlight the applications of salivary gene expression studies in biomarker discovery for oral and systemic diseases.While discussing various saliva collection techniques, here we focus on the procedure for RNA extraction, including microRNA (miRNA) from the OMNIgene™ SALIVA DNA and RNA device, OMR-610 (DNA Genotek Inc., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). Herein, we provide the detailed methodologies for RNA extraction for salivary transcriptomics and the miRNome, thus providing a resource for researchers interested in leveraging the diagnostic and prognostic potential of saliva for personalized medicine and precision health initiatives.